


Try Try Again

by PurpleMango



Series: Fate's Favorites [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Companionable Snark, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Late Night Conversations, Love Potion/Spell, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Marauders, Natasha Romanov Dies, Professor Tom Riddle, Sane Tom Riddle, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, it's an issue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-03-05 17:43:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 42,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleMango/pseuds/PurpleMango
Summary: Natasha asks for a favor.Fate meddles. Death smiles.Isn't this fun?





	1. Asking For Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this IS a happy story- not warnings here yet
> 
> Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter nor the Marvel franchises

Natasha stood in a room with white walls, that if blank, would have seemed to both go on forever and yet made the room feel smaller than it actually physically was. But as it was the walls were covered in pictures, some moving from magic, some a type of video projection. 

The two women watched her tense posture like she was some adorable kid throwing a tantrum.

“Why would you want that?” Death, with eyes so dark they seemed to suck in the light of the room around her, looked especially amused. The deity had a bad habit of being amused about things that would end up with Natasha being in pain, so her curved lips were probably justified.

She straightened further, discomfort building in her gut. She knew they had ever right to say no to her, as this would majorly affect all of the world’s death marks and the woven fates, meaning the two deities would have more work to do than just sitting around drinking tea. “I’ve been the center of destruction before and lived, even without your gifts. I think it’s time I work in the spotlight instead of from the shadows, take some of the heat.”

The dark-haired woman seemed to muse this, all the while biting into what looked like an apple viciously, only for a bit of red fluid to drip down the woman’s alabaster skin. When Death grinned, her teeth were stained red like she’d eaten a heart, and the inside of the apple was blood red instead of the normal pale white color. _{_ __(W_ arning: Don’t ever eat food offered up by a deity that has no sense of taste or interest in making things taste like they do to humans.)} _  “I have to say yes. And even though the work will be horrendously irritating, I think this will be fun.”

Natasha shivered at the thought of Death having  _ fun,  _ but looked to the other woman.

Lady Magic, or Fate (as muggles called her), watched her with eyes that never seemed to stay the same. Most of the time they were a baby blue color, but sometimes they flashed gold or sometimes even pitch black like her sister. This time they were a piercing indigo color, and the gaze seemed to see right into her soul.

The room fell into silence, with the occasional sounds of Death eating that cursed apple, but Natasha didn’t dare look away from those vivid eyes.

Finally, the woman smiled, something dark and viciously amused making her shift on her feet uneasily. Fate picked up her teacup, lips still hinting at something so greatly amused that she wondered if this had been a mistake, taking a sip. The woman’s eyes faded to a light steel-blue. “Very well. We will humor you.”

She dipped her head in thanks, letting out all her residing tension with a sigh.

 

_ In a room of professors and board members discussing who to have fill a position that frankly most of the group thought was deeply cursed, a slim woman with thick bottle cap glasses that made her eyes look like they were huge, stiffened rigidly in the chair. Eyes rolling back in her head she breathed in a loud sucking breath like she very well couldn’t breathe. _

_ Most of the room turned in confusion or panic, but as the woman spoke in a rasping tone of certainty, more than a few members of the room hid eyes gleaming with hunger and desire. _

_ "The ending of the Dark Lord has arrived...  _

_ The Red Queen shall sit among us, revived. _

_ She is no hero, with blood on her hands, _

_ But the favorite of Death has many plans. _

_ The color of blood will mark the heiress… _

_ There is nothing but time to prepare us. _

_ No death shall ever touch the Queen’s green eyes, _

_ Pray to Lady Magic alone she then complies. _

_ For the end of the traitor may befall, _

_ Only one path to take where Death won’t call.  _

_ She will decide the path of all magic, _

_ The choice of sides will be quite tragic. _

_ Does one decide between past and future? _

_ Luck be with those who try to use her.” _

_ Instantly the room broke into chaos.  _

_ Everyone was scrambling for paper, some having started to write down the woman’s words hastily, and the room was left somewhat deserted as most of the adults on the board went to send owls. _

_ Professor Sprout handed a calming drought to the thin woman that had spouted the prophecy, eyes flicking anxiously to where Dumbledore was looking out the window, lost in thought. “Albus… What do you think this means?” _

_ The man’s blue eyes were weighed with unease, so unlike his usual twinkling happiness, and there was a slight frown on his lips. “There is a blood moon coming in a week’s time…” The man’s eyes drifted to the window again. “This woman, she will probably show up then.” _

_ Minerva McGonagall looked uncharacteristically nervous, standing to pace like a caged lion. “This could very well mean that the war will be decided by one person! Albus, how will we-” _

_ “I’m sure that I can make her see reason.” There was a hardness in the headmaster’s eyes, one of a general determined not to lose a war, and it made everyone left in the room shiver. _

 

_ Tom Marvolo Riddle was sitting in his study in the Malfoy Manor, thinking over his plans for the next bill he wanted to pass, when the fireplace lit up. About to throw a curse whoever dared disrupt him, three people fell from the fireplace and landed in a pile of limbs, all seeming to vie for his attention. _

_ “Silence.” The irritated tone made the three stiffen, all untangling and standing to straighten themselves out.  _ _ Cold brown eyes looked over the man’s loyal followers. “Now, what is so important that you dare disturb me when i’m working?” _

_ The highest ranking of the three, Abraxas Malfoy took a step forward and in his eyes was a fear that was of something other than the Lord in front of him. “There- there has been a prophecy… of your demise.” _

_A chill fell over the room, Riddle stalking forward silently, and grabbing the man’s face. Blunt nails digging into the man’s pale skin, the brown eyes were as cold as stone. “_ ** _Show_** **_me_** _.”_

_ With a sharp intake of breath, the man flinched, the other looking away as the Lord dove into the man’s mind to watch the memory. A second passed and the man dropped Abraxas, stumbling back as if he had been burned, eyes flickering with something none of the Death Eaters had ever seen on their Lord’s face. _

_ Fear. _

_ The man clenched his fists, straightening, eyes burning red briefly. “I want every last red-haired woman and girl to be checked for magical ability, the names of the potential candidates recorded and sent to me. NOW!” _

_ The three scrambled to the fireplace, the dark eyed man sitting down in his chair to stare out the window. He had spent so much getting here, in the position he was able to start enforcing his plans, he couldn’t be stopped now.  _

_ He would just have to convince this ‘Red Queen’ to his side. _


	2. Invocations of the Blood Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (>^.^<) Side Note- this story was actually the inspiration for my other story: 'What Doesn't Kill You, Was Supposed To'

Natasha strolled through muggle London, headphones in, enjoying the gentle breeze on her face. Surprisingly, as petty as the two deities usually were, they had been clear in their instruction for once: She was to stay away from all magic and magical people until the day of the blood moon.

Then she’d gotten a door. An actual  _ door  _ leading out of the white room. One that didn’t make her fall from crazy heights or involve her getting soaking wet.

And after that, she couldn’t well complain about her being a teenager, so she sighed and went with it.

Natasha was of course, heavily suspicious, but without any type of knowledge about what would happen if she broke those simple instructions… she was complying for now.

Plus, who didn’t like sightseeing.

After walking around exploring and staying in small rented out flats for a few days, her phone buzzed, the timer going off that she’d set to alert her when the blood moon was set to start rising. 

Thanking the elderly woman she’d been renting from and paying, she stepped to the curb, looking up at the sky. Barely there, the moon hung in the dark sky, glittering red among the stars. 

With a soft smile, she raised her hand and snapped, giving off a wave of energy similar to raising a wand. Instantly a big double-decker bus appeared, a thin boy looking to just be out of Hogwarts pulling a little piece of paper out of his pocket to read. “Welcome to the night bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Mark Shunpike and I will be your cond-” Glancing up at her, the teen froze mid word, face paling.

With a soft smile, she took the man’s frozen hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m headed to Diagon Alley, if that’s quite alright.” Stepping past him, she moved to sit in one of the chairs at the front that didn’t slide, folding herself into it before the bus started.

The boy stumbled after her, face still pale, and gave her a ticket with shaky hands. “He- Here.”

Nodding her head politely, she tucked the paper in her breast pocket and slipped her earbuds back in. Soon enough, the familiar speed of the night bus pulled her body away from her stomach. She might’ve been sick if she wasn’t sitting in an unmoving chair, listing to her music, and her nails dug into the sides of the armchair subconsciously.

Feeling the bus stop, she took a deep breath and stood, lacking a little bit of her usual grace as she paid and stepped off the bus quickly. Rubbing at her temples, she waited until she didn’t feel like being sick, before starting to the door to the Leaky Cauldron.

The dingy smell of ale and old wood hit her nose, the familiarity letting her relax a bit. Walking into the room while trying to find the right song for her mood, she paused when the whole bar went silent, glancing up.

The room’s eyes were locked on her, faces of fear and awe making her still. 

Natasha glanced behind her, but there was no one there.

With an uneasy feeling creeping up her spine, she forwent changing her music, striding as quickly as she could to the gate to Diagon Alley.

If she had thought that moving to the Alley would help, she was surely wrong. The second she stepped onto the street, a ripple seemed to go through the crowd, faces turning and eyes widening. The people pressed to the walls of the alley, mothers hiding their children behind them, whispers traveling through the crowd. 

She looked down at herself. Sure, she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with Sirius’ old leather jacket, but she was sure there was nothing too wrong about her. With a small frown, she conjured a mirror, ignoring the whispers it brought.

Nope. Her face wasn’t half melted off.

So… what was going on?

Flicking her wrist to get rid of the mirror, she shook her head softly. This was probably something of Fate’s design, something to fuck with her. 

With a pause she tied her hair back in a long ponytail, held her head high, and walked towards Gringotts. She’d figure out what was going on later.

Bowing her head respectfully to the goblins outside, she entered the bank, making her way to the farthest teller who looked up with something glinting in his eyes. “I would like to claim my inheritance.”

The goblin smiled widely, not even debating her claim, and waved her along. “Right this way.”

 

_ Nothing!  _

_ Tom Riddle had searched for a week.  _

_ Every redhead. Every red-headed family. Every call to houses that had accidental magic, hoping the child had red hair! _

_ Nothing. _

_ There was no sign of any girl with blood red hair to match the prophecy. _

_ Riddle was just about to crucio the man who had the nerve to dare tell him that this girl didn’t exist, when Abraxas ran in, eyes wild. “We found her! She- she just showed up in Diagon Alley, with hair the color of blood.”  _

_ He turned on the man with a pointed look. “Set up a charity event and invite her.” _

_ “One- one thing m’lord…” The man paled, eyes fixed on his feet in fear. “She… she’s just a teenager.” _

_ A laugh echoed through the room and into the Malfoy Manor, sending shivers through whoever heard it.  _

_ His dark eyes gleamed. “Then I think it’s time I go back to Hogwarts… Don’t you?” _

 

Natasha sat through the whole process of lordships, all to claim only one. 

And so she became Natasha Romanova Peverell again.

She could say it was a fondness for the name, but it was more that she liked the layout of the Peverell manor and had thought of it as home for her last several lives.

Thanking the goblins in their accustomed manner, she made her way down the white marble steps, stopping at the bottom to stretch lazily. She was worn thin already, but yet she still needed to get her supplies for Hogwarts.

Yawning softly into her hand, she moved to walk towards Madam Malkins, only to find her path blocked. Blinking up at the man, she tilted her head at the long pale blonde hair, a boy her age at the man’s side. “Hello. May I help you?”

The man who looked creepily like a Malfoy, bowed lowly. “Abraxas Malfoy, at your service.” Strengthening, the man gave her a pleasant smile. “And this is my son. Lucius.”

She jerked back at the man’s name, memories of a blonde boy with steel eyes watching as Tom tortured her flooding into her mind. Steadying her breathing, she pulled her coat around her tighter, eyes narrowed and voice weaker than she'd have liked. “Plea- Please excuse me.” 

Without another word, she shouldered past the man, ducking into a familiar bookshop and trying to catch her breath. 

_ He wasn't here. She was free of him. She had killed him. He’d died. He'd never touch her again, never make her call him ‘Lord’. _

Steadying herself, she shook her head, chiding herself as she moved with practiced ease to the back of the store where she knew there was a floo. She hadn’t planned on going to the Peverell manor so soon, what with just having sent word along with a few house elves to get it cleaned up, but she was much to rattled to stay here. 

About to second guess her decision, the bell to the store rung and she looked back, locking eyes with Darius Nott. Another Death Eater. As the man started towards her, she threw down the floo power. “PEVERELL MANOR!”

She was gone before the man could even reach out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOH  
> What's Tommy up to?  
> Why doesn't Natasha remember the prophecy she asked for?


	3. And So The Spider Spins It's Web

Natasha spent her time in the manor rebuilding her new body. 

Training back her muscle, re-sorting her scattered mind's defenses, and getting her summoning back to it’s split second timing- she tried not to think about anything else.

She’d always had a way with magical creatures and races, so she wasn’t too surprised when all her house elves clung at her, weeping when she told them she had to go to Hogwarts for a few months. Though the promise of asking the headmaster for their access seemed to calm them.

Braiding her hair up into an intricate knot, she stepped through the floo onto the platform of King’s Cross Station. Dusting herself off lightly and rolling back her shoulders, she made her way to the furthest bench of the platform, content to read until the train arrived.

Getting on the train as soon as it stopped and nodding politely to the workers cleaning, she slipped into a compartment up front, casting a spell that would keep out anyone looking for her before laying out on the bench.

 

A loud whistle broke her from her gentle slumber and in an instant she had her silver gun in hand, aiming at the door.

The warm atmosphere of the Hogwarts Express washed over her not a moment too soon, familiar and soothing and it felt like coming home. Looking out the window she saw the train was starting the last call. 

Natasha propped herself against the window with a sigh, pulling her favorite book out of thin air, the cover to _‘_ _ Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland _ ’ worn from handling. 

Her cabin door opened, a boy with dark hair scrambling in with a panicked look in his eyes

She raised an eyebrow. “Hello...” 

Spinning around, the boy’s eyes widened in fear, but it was different... This boy was not afraid of her, but something else. 

“Please let me sit here! And pretend like you know me?”

“Fine then.” Natasha didn’t question it. Not when a younger Severus Snape was practically begging her to be his friend. “Sit.” Flicking her fingers, his hastily carried bags were put away, a cup of tea on the empty bench.

The boy did, eyes widening. “That was wandless-”

“Sit down.” 

Severus frowned, but did as he was told. 

Natasha started reading her book aloud, guessing what the boy was running from. And like clockwork, the cabin door was thrown open, four teenage boys standing there. With unamused eyes, Natasha stopped reading, turning to look up at the marauders. “Yes? Can I help you?”

Snape sneered, seeming perfectly relaxed. “It’s alright. They were just leaving... Go on, keep reading.” His eyes darted to her, like he was afraid he’d gone too far.

She just looked back down at the book, shrugging. “Alright, If you say so…” 

And starting to read again, the other boys were stunned speechless, standing and watching them with their mouths hanging open. Whispering to each other, they soon turned and scrambled away.

When they were gone, Natasha put the book aside and summoned a cup of coffee for herself, giving the pale boy with the long dark hair a long look.

“I- I’m sorry about that.” Snape tensed under her stare. “They never leave me alone and- well I just was looking for somewhere to hide. I can go...”

“It’s fine.” Natasha shrugged. “I needed the company anyway.”

The boy’s eyes darted to the book and back to her. “That’s a… muggle book?”

She nodded. “Sure is. A muggle book for a muggle-born… My name’s Natasha.” She smiled at the boy’s slight cringe. “And you are?”

“Severus Snape.” The boy’s eyes were once again on her, the dark orbs curious as always. “How is it you can do wandless magic? Not to be rude or anything, but without magical parents-”

Natasha smiled. “My magic came in when I turned fourteen all at once. It was… quite a surprise.” Her lips turned into something between bitter and amused. “Torture really teaches you how to cope with strange situations.” With a wink, she picked back up her book. 

When the trolley came by, Snape didn’t look up from where he was watching the landscape pass, so she bought extra food. “Want some?”

Startled eyes looked between the food and her. “Are- are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.” After he took the food, she laid out on the bench, looking over at the boy. “So what’d they do to you? The marauders, I mean.”

The boy eyed her. “You know them?” 

Natasha made a face. “I know  _ of _ them.”

“They’re bullies.” Snape looked back outside the window of the train, but his face belied the fear and resentment he held for the boys. “Don’t mess with them.” 

A silence fell over the compartment, nothing more said until the train stopped. 

Snape turned to her. “Are you a transfer then?”

“I guess. Though I would say that i’m _quite_ expected. Especially with what i’ve seen so far.” Natasha gave the boy a small smile. “I’ll go with you to the carriages. I do love the thestrals.” She tucked her book under her arm, tugging Snape through the crowds to the carriages. 

“Thes-  _ whats _ ?”

Breathing out the rest of the tension she didn’t know she’d been holding, her eyes caught sight of the beautiful black creatures. With a cooing sound, she held out her hand. The large beast nudged it’s nose into her hand, and she drew it’s neck into a hug easily. 

Gasps from the surrounding students made her blink and release the creature quickly. “Oh right… I forgot that touching them means everyone can see-” She smiled sadly at the black creature. “Sorry babygirl. I don’t wanna scare the kiddies- but I’ll give you lots of hugs later.” 

“Why can’t the rest of us see them- the- those  _things_?” 

Natasha looked back at a boy who looked pale, as if he was afraid of his blurted question, tilting her head. “Have you watched someone die?”  She smiled sweetly. “ _ That’s _ why you can’t see them.”

The boy sputtered “And have you-”

“Severus! Come on! We should get the first carriage!” She pulled the boy off before the kid could finish his question.

 

Walking through the corridors of Hogwarts was like being home, fires lighting as she walked down the hall, stone warm under her gliding fingers. Her voice was a whisper. “ _ Hey there beautiful… I'm home again… _ ”

When the other older students split up to go to their assigned seats, she just stood in the doorway, gazing around the room. 

It was different than her ideal vision of the building. 

There was no multicolored staff chair marking the Hogwarts she’d taught at, the window behind the dias didn't hold hundreds of names of the people who died to Voldemort’s wand like the Hogwarts she'd been Guardian of. She couldn't go up to her rooms and find Harry wanting her to tell him stories or Sirius and Remus dancing in the side courtyard under the darkness of the new moon. 

No- this Hogwarts reminded her of Tom Riddle’s dark possessive eyes and she shuddered, fingernails digging into her palms.

Someone cleared their throat and she snapped back to the present. “My dear... Can I help you?”

“It's just...” Natasha spread out her arms, turning slowly to marvel the whole hall, ignoring it's missing pieces and instead focusing on how it felt like _home_. “It’s marvelous. Different than I remember, sure, but still-... It still feels like home.” She stopped facing forward again and shook her head, a hidden smile slipping onto her face. “Excuse my manners… My name’s Natasha.” She bowed slowly, grin lopsided as she straightened back up. 

The man’s piercing blue eyes held that familiar twinkle, but it was more assessing than kind this time around.

She tilted her head, looking at the students for the first time since walking in the hall. They were all leaning away from her, as if she’d caught a horrible disease. “I… seem to have a reputation.” She saw a few students flinch away from her words. “May I ask, why I seem to have the fear of the Wizarding World? I seem to remember only being told of magic a few days ago by my guardian.”

Whispers filled the hall.

Dumbledore smiled, but it was strained. “It- You seem to have an almost limitless amount of magic that surrounds you. Anyone magically sensitive can see that.”

Frowning, she cast a simple mage-sight spell, pursing her lips when her magic seemed to be at her normal levels. With a long suffering sigh, she turned to the little lines of magic curling off her, gathering them up in the air and spelling them behind a bubble to block their power from exuding off her. When her magic had dimmed to below that of the average professor up on the dias, she rubbed at her temples. 

Her voice came out tired, worn thin, as if she was repeating lines. “I am dearly sorry for any problems. I do hope that it has not caused any harm. I will try to keep my magic within the normal limits as not to cause any problems.” At the silence in the room she rolled her eyes, stalking to the front of the room, picking up the sorting hat and putting it on her own head.  _ “Seems I have to do everything for myself.” _

The hat snickered in her head.  _ “So, dear guardian, where do you want to be sorted if you are so determined to try to act normal?” _

She made a face.  _ “Hufflepuff probably, maybe Ravenclaw.” _

_ “I suggest Ravenclaw. It would be the easiest to explain away the magical power.” _

Natasha’s lips tugged into a small smile.  _ “Guess so… but what about Hufflepuff? I mean, I’m right there with all those sweet innocent children.”  _ At this the hat laughed out loud and she grinned along with it.  _ “Okay, yeah, you're right. Probably not.” _

The hat snorted.  _ “Though I do think Slytherin would be best for making friends, as you already have two in that house. Maybe this time you’ll even go to the common room willingly. I see that last time Loki had to drag you.” _

With amusement curling at her insides like a warm flame, she made an offended sound. _“Rude.”_

At this the hat coughed, bending to look at her. “Always a pleasure Miss Natasha... SLYTHERIN!”

With a soft snort, she pulled the hat off, sticking her tongue out at it. “Dumbass.”

“Idiot.” The hat’s sneer was fond, even as the hall broke into whispers. 

She set it down, shaking her head. “I swear to god i’m gonna set you on fire one day.”

The hat gasped in mock outrage. “You wouldn’t dare!” 

With a peel of mocking laughter, she strolled to the Slytherin table, plopping down next to a wide-eyed Snape. “Right. Well that was interesting.”  The boy just gaped at her and she frowned. “Severus? You okay?”

“You know  _ him _ ?” A boy down the table sent Snape a sneer. “ _ Why _ ?”

Natasha frowned. “And who are you, that knows everything ever?”

“Rabastan Lestrange, at your service…” The boy leered at her.

The name made her think of Neville, the boy who lost his parents and spent his early life so afraid. She felt her fists clench onto the wood table and sneered. “Well, Mr. Lestrange, I think you should keep your face out of my way. I don’t like you or your aura of  _ death _ .” She practically spit out the words.

The table was quiet, along with the hall

Exhaustion washed over her body, seeping into her bones, and her magic was barely keeping her from just summoning a knife and digging the boy's eyeballs out. 

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in, calming her frazzled mind.  _These are children- not the people that hurt you and not the adults that hurt your loved ones. Killing them would make you no better than Thanos. Or Voldemort. Or- well really any mass murder villain that you've faced._

With a thin smile, she nodded, standing up. “You know, i’m really not drunk enough to deal with this, so I’m going to turn in for the night. Don't worry- I know exactly where i'm going.”

When she was out of the Great Hall, a deep sigh was exhaled, body un-tensing slightly.

_ Natasha swore on Magic and Death and anything in between: This time she'd complete whatever the fuck the two deities wanted as fast as she could and move on.  _

_ This endless loop was getting much to repetitive for her tastes. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Hints that I might move on from Harry Potter after this*  
> I wonder what's next?


	4. In Which the Spider Befriends a Bat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always hated Slughorn- for reasons none other than his character always felt really... slimy to me

In the morning she pulled on one of Clint’s old long sleeve shirts that smelled like his pine-scented cologne and a pair of Tony’s ripped jeans with chemical stains on it, altering them so that they fit her shorter body. She’d claimed the clothes of the other members of the team slowly over time as her own, but none of the others ever seemed to mind. 

Apparently the dorm had adjusted to add a room just for her, since all of the other girls rooms were carefully ‘full’. She suspected it was more that no one wanted to have her in their room- and Hogwarts had felt her irritation, giving into adding on an extra room.

Without a second thought, she made her way to the Great Hall, earbuds in and music blasting. 

Singing along to _‘_ _ Never Gonna Give You Up _ _’_ she tapped her fingers on her legs, ignoring the looks she got as she made her way down the hall. Hopping up onto the banister, she slid down while playing air drums, before landing on her feet smoothly.

Pulling one of her headphones out of her ear, she sat down at the end of the Slytherin table, getting herself some food as she used the silverware to drum along to the rhythm. 

When breakfast was almost over, she stood and made her way down the isle.

A younger Professor Slughorn looked up at her, startled, as she approached the head table. “I need my class schedule. I missed getting it last night because I was simply _exhausted_.”

The man blinked at her for a second, before trying to regain his composure. “Well- I- Next time find me before breakfast Miss Peverell.” He pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it over. 

Natasha bowed her head lowly, rolling her eyes slightly when he couldn’t see. “I will, thank you.” She turned to walk back to her table.

“If I may ask, Miss Natasha, what are those devices in your ears?” 

She grinned back at Dumbledore, who was watching her with those familiar piercing blue eyes, raising a single finger up to her lips with a grin. “Shhh…  _ Spoilers sweetie _ !” Sitting down once more, she immersed herself in reading the schedule and eating while humming along to her music.

 

Natasha made a trip to the kitchens, saying hello to all the elves and getting some chocolate croissants before she made her way to Transfiguration, smiling sheepishly at McGonagall when she was late. “Sorry about my tardiness Miss, but I brought you some croissants as a-”

The woman’s glare was sharp. “Do not think for a second that you can butter me up with  _ food _ , Miss Natasha.”

Natasha scoffed. “As if!” She pulled a parchment out of thin air, handing it to the woman. “No, the real ‘buttering up’ is me asking to grade papers and help out in trade for not having to be bored. Here are my NEWT scores for transfiguration.” 

_ (McGonagall didn’t need to know they were from her last life.) _

They both ignored the whispers across the classroom. 

“And if I might ask, why are you here if you have your NEWTS?”

Natasha shrugged. “I only have my NEWTS in transfiguration, potions, and charms. Plus it’s mostly my mom’s decision- though I do love this school.” She smiled. “I’ll start with the summer assignments, work my way though by year. Yeah?”

The woman nodded after a second of studying her with sharp eyes, before turning to the class. “Very well… It seems Miss Natasha will be assisting me, so if you have any questions and I am unavailable, please ask her."

Natasha saluted the students, sitting behind the large desk and flicking her wrist to pull a red pen out of thin air. Waving her hand, she reorganized the papers, before setting herself to the familiar motion grading. 

She was close to done with a good amount of the second-year papers when a waving hand caught her eye. 

Sirius Black, in all the roguish charm of young age, waved his hand at her with his feet propped up on his desk. 

With a slight frown, she pushed herself up and made her way over, ignoring the grin that stretched across his lips. “Do you need something Mr...”

“Sirius Black- but you can call me Sirius… Could you do me the favor of making sure my wand movement’s correct for this non-verbal spell?” His eyes sparkled as his eyes looked her up and down. “And feel free to correct me- Maybe even show me how  _ you’d  _ hold my wand...”

The innuendo made her cringe slightly, the boys around Sirius snickering. “Alright…” She leaned on his desk, eyes heavy, voice turning silky with seductive intent. “Show me what you can do _.. _ .” 

The boy swallowed, pupils dilating, before trying to concentrate on his spell. A simple spell to transfigure a tortoise into a teapot, but it only got halfway, the teapot having little arms that waved around in mid-air. 

Chuckling, she snapped, the spell reversing. “Not quite… Non-verbal spells, Mr. Black, are all about imagination. You can’t see a tortoise becoming a teapot because you have no imagination. But don’t worry. Once you get one- and I recommend the package deal where you buy better pick-up lines as well- you’ll be able to do the spell _easily_.” 

The class ‘ooohed’ at the snarky comeback and she grinned, returning to the desk.

Once sitting down, she looked down to see her hands were shaking slightly. With a deep breath, she picked up her pen and pushed herself to focus on the paper in front of her.

 

Ironically, she was paired up with Severus Snape at the front of the class for Potions. 

Slughorn gave the instructions to make the best potion of their choosing so he could measure their talent, before letting them all lose.

Pressing her earbud in the ear facing away from her dark-haired lab-table partner and giving him a wink, she pulled out her phone quickly, tapping on a song befitting her light mood before stashing it away in her pocket. 

Snape gave her a look and she held up a finger to her lips with a grin before turning to her potion.

When she was done and her station cleaned, she hopped up on her lab bench, offering a earbud to Severus. He looked at it with quizzical eyes. She huffed a laugh, pushing back his hair to put it in his ear. “Like this.”

His eyes widened almost comically, voice saturated with awe. “What- what is this?”

Natasha grinned as Freddie Mercury sang like a siren in their ears. “ _ Magic _ .” 

He gave her the most dead-panned look, causing her to burst into laughter. 

“Are you already done Miss Natasha?”

Smiling back at Professor Slughorn, she nodded, clicking the button on the wire of the headphones to pause the song. “Done and cleaned up Professor. No need to worry about me, I’m quite fond of potions. It’s like cooking- you do it right and it’s a wonderful, but you don’t… and well, you set things on fire.”

The man chuckled. “Yes, well I must commend you on your talent. A potion like this at your age is quite a feat...” The man picked up the vial of freshly brewed veritaserum, swishing it back and forth. “If you would test it? To see how well it’s brewed, of course.”

She frowned. Veritaserum could be brewed in a half an hour, but was usually set aside for a little over two weeks to lessen the potency. “Professor I must say that’s not safe, since it hasn't aged and-”

“Come on my dear!... Don’t tell me you don’t think you brewed it correctly?”

Clenching her fists slightly at the manipulative words, she pursed her lips. “It’s not aged, so I will only be taking one drop for safety.” Worrying her lip, she picked up the vial. “Here goes nothing.” Grabbing a dropper, she placed a single drop on her tongue and swallowed. 

Almost instantly she felt a familiar hazy feeling taking over her limbs.

“Who are you?” Slughorn and the rest of the class leaned forward.

“Natasha.” The answer was easy enough. “Clint and James call me Tasha, but everyone else is on threat of death to forget that nickname exists.”

The Professor blinked, frowning. “Who... Who are Clint and James?”

“Well…” She let her lips quirk up just the tiniest bit. “Clint’s a ex-carnie, who can shoot a fly with a bow and arrow. He’s my favorite archer and  _ loves  _ the color purple for some reason. Like he’s  _ addicted  _ to the color purple. And James? Well, James Buchanan Barnes is an assassin with a metal arm that loves plums, Disney movies, and killing HYDRA agents… Though not in that exact order.”

“Hydra?”

“An ex-nazi organization that is really bent on taking the world by storm. They hate pretty much everyone that’s not ‘useful’ to their-”

Slughorn sighed, cutting her off. “What are you doing at Hogwarts?”

“Me?” Natasha blinked, eyes fixing on him as she grinned. “Well, first thing’s first, I have an abnormally high immunity to veritaserum. And second? I’m here to learn. Learn all of the secrets and hidden things no one talks about in this school- find all the bad things going on in these halls and then  _ destroy _ them.” 

Slughorn backed up a step at the look in her eyes, bumping into another student and mumbling out an apology as he scrambled away. 

She looked back at Severus. “Sorry. I wanted to see if he was hiding something... Where were we?”

“Music.” The boy’s lips were curved into a half-smile as he looked at her with questioning eyes. 

Natasha hummed, unpausing the music, watching with a fond smile as the boy slowly started to tap his foot to the music while he worked. 

 

Being friends with Severus was fun. 

She and the older version man had been close in her first life- but not close enough for her to visit too much when he’d grown into a crabby recluse. He’d hex her into oblivion if he knew she had cried at his funeral, but to make up for the tears, she tried not to dwell on his death.

So now making friends with the shy boy was entertaining. As he was painfully unused to attention, she enjoyed giving him all of hers. Listening to music together, eating lunch out by the lake, talking in whispers during potions...

Until the marauders stepped in.

Natasha had already seen the finch whenever Lupin came around, but there hadn’t been any mean pranks that she’d seen. 

Yet.

They were in the second half of their double potions, listening to music, when something was thrown into his cauldron. Her eyes widened, pulling the boy to the floor just as the cauldron exploded, green sludge flying everywhere. 

Slughorn hurried over. “Mr. Snape! What happened!”

Severus looked from Natasha to the Professor. “I- I didn’t-”

Waving her hand so they were both clean, Natasha winced as if feeling guilty. “I’m really sorry professor. I- well I think my sleeve had some excess potion on it from earlier and it must’ve fell in. I’m sorry about the mess.”

“Detention Miss Natasha!” Slughorn frowned. “And clean this up.”

When the man had left, she shot a frown to where the four marauders were whispering to each other. “ _ Jerks _ .”

“Sirius Black likes you…” Snape looked down. “I don’t know if you should-”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at the boy. “Severus If you say I shouldn’t be seen with you, then you haven’t been watching me become the weirdest student to walk these halls since, well,  _ ever _ .”

Severus chuckled weakly. “We still have to clean this up.”

“Music?” 

The boy took the earbud with a smile, putting it in his ear. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who the Defense Teacher is?  
> ^-^


	5. Love Potions Are No Basis For A Healthy Relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TOM!   
> Also, we stan a soft Remus Lupin in this house ^-^
> 
> !!Chapter Warnings!!   
> non-con use of love potion, referenced rape, Slughorn bashing.... and (justified) violence

Natasha sat with Severus in the back of the defense classroom, gazing out the window as the others gossiped about the new Defence teacher. 

Apparently she’d missed his entrance, as her exit from the main hall was right before it- but apparently he was young and handsome.  And already the man had a gaggle of teenage girls hanging off the couple sentences he’d said the night before.

She heard the door open softly, but her eyes stayed on the Black Lake, bored.

“Hello class. My name is Thomas Rätsel.”

Natasha proceeded to fall out of her chair.

A familiar face with deep chocolate eyes appeared above her, eyes a mix of concern and amusement. “Are you alright?”

Ignoring the hand extended to her, she stood, moving slightly closer to Severus. Her hands were shaking slightly where they were clenched at her side. “No worries Professor Riddle.” Watching the man’s eyes widen at the slip of her tongue, she jumped the desk, just barely missing the arm that had shot out to try to grab her. In a blink of an eye, his wand was inches from her silver gun. 

The class was silent.

“Professor Ri-  _ Rätsel… _ ” Her brain was spinning at seeing the man, trying to think up a reason to get the students away from him safely. “How was that for a demonstration?”

The man’s eyes flashed and if she hadn’t spent years interpreting his moods, she would have missed it. 

_ Interest. _

Great. Just what she needed.

The man lowered his wand, seemingly fascinated with the way she flicked her wrist and the gun disappeared. Watching the Dark Lord closely, she gave him a wide berth, sitting back in her chair.

Eyes still locked on her, the man smiled, before finally turning away to look over the rest of the class. “That, children, is how to evade a surprise attack. We all know most wizards are practically useless without their wands, so in this class not only will I be teaching you magic, we will also be spending each Friday morning working on physical exercise.”

The class groaned, making the man's lips turn up more, as if he wanted them to be unhappy.

“But for today, we are going to cover the Unforgivables!” Dark eyes locked on her again and she had the deep rooted fear this year was going to be more interesting that she thought.

 

The class was ending, Severus and her packing up their stuff, when Riddle’s smooth voice called out across the class. “Miss Peverell, if you would stay behind...”

Severus looked at her carefully, Lucius stopping by his side as well. “You want me to stay?” His voice was soft, worried.

Natasha smiled easily, waving her hand. “No, i’ll see you two at lunch. Save me a seat!”

Glancing at each other, the two boys just nodded, rushing out.

She leaned back in her chair, propping her feet up on the desk and studied the ‘professor’ while waiting for the other students to shuffle out. Tall, with elegantly styled brown hair and deep chocolate eyes, she had to admit there was some merit to the girls in Slytherin. The man was good looking. But the smirk on his cupid bow lips irritated her to no ends.

The last of the class left and with a quick wave of his wand, the door slammed shut. 

Slowly, as if expecting her to run like a wild animal, Riddle stalked forward. “You are surprisingly fascinating.”

The words echoed the praise he’d give her in her last life and she let her fingers curl into her thighs slightly. Sitting completely still, stretched out across her balanced chair and the desk, she raised a single eyebrow in the way she knew he hated. “How  _ unseemingly  _ forward of you.”

Now only a few feet from her, the man loomed over her form, eyes flickering for a long second before he sat on the desk to the side of her legs. “How disrespectful of you, talking that way to your professor like that.” The lips curved up more. “I’ll let it slide I guess, but only because I find you so interesting.”

Natasha slid out of her seat gracefully, the chair clattering to the floor where she had been sitting. Turning her back on the man, she yawned lightly, stretching and looking out the window at the Black Lake. “I would say the same, but I believe that i’ve done this too many times to be suprised by you anymore.” Turning to find the man’s eyes burned with irritation at being called predictable, she leaned in until their noses were practically touching. “It’s the same game as always. I give you the chance to surprise me, and you- well- let’s just say it’s been disappointing so far.”

Scooping up her bag, she strolled out of the classroom. She was already late for lunch.

 

Later in transfiguration, the only class of hers that Severus wasn’t in, hesitant footsteps approached where she was grading. Glancing up, she saw a boy with slightly orange eyes and scars on his face fiddling with his sleeves. “Remus Lupin… Nice to finally meet you.”

The boy’s eyes flicked up to her before back down to his shoes. “I- I told Sirius not to do that earlier… but I- I’m sorry.”

“Are you sorry because you want me to help you with the transfiguration assignment…” She tilted her head. “Or because Sirius made you come over here and talk to me in hopes that you could pull me over to your little group?”

The boy grinned for a brief second and his shoulders relaxed, eyes amused. “So you do see through it- All of the drama and lies.” The boy hummed. “No wonder you smell… strange.”

“Well then. Maybe I should take a shower.” Natasha stood up. “Come on. I’ll help you with your spell, Big Bad Wolf.”

The boy’s eyes widened.

She leaned in close to his ear. “One predator makes sure to know another…” Rocking back on her heels, she shrugged. “That and your eyes are such a lovely orange. Like little burning suns.” 

Remus blinked. “You’re not…?” The word ‘ _ human’  _ floated between them like a shadow.

“Not entirely.” She took his elbow, guiding him back to his seat and then sliding into the empty desk beside him. “Now, do you know the incantation to make flowers out of the tip of your wand?”

He shook his head slightly, eyes still wide.

Natasha gave him a soft smile. “Loosen up. I don’t bite.” She bared her teeth. “No fangs. Nothing but a girl, trying to teach a guy how to make her flowers.”

Remus seemed to relax a little, giving her a small smile.

“Good. Now think of a garden. Close your eyes, think of a seed. Marigold for all extents and purposes of their  _ lovely  _ orange color... Think of a soft orange flower, poking out of the ground, growing and growing until finally-” She tapped his wrist, seeing his eyes open, fixing on the single orange flower that had sprung from his wand. “It’s fully bloomed.”

“Wow. That was…” He smiled. “Actually really easy!”

Huffing a laugh, she picked the flower off his wand, brushing it behind his ear. “To match those  _ volcanic  _ eyes of yours…” 

Remus turned a light pink color, but then another boy was asking for help and she moved over to help, pretending not to notice how Sirius was now whisper-yelling at the werewolf.

 

Natasha fiddled with her phone as she walked down to the Potions Lab for her detention. A sinking feeling hit her when she reached for the door handle and she paused, before shaking it off. 

Opening the door, she looked up to see a wand pointed at her. “Petrificus Totalus!” 

Frozen, the phone slipped out of her hand, gravity pulling the headphone jack out as the phone clattered to the floor.  _ ‘Tainted Love’  _ came out of the speakers, breaking the silence. Slughorn grabbed her chin, pouring a potion down her throat, then broke the paralyzing spell and she collapsed to the floor, coughing. 

The liquid was probably some kind of love potion if the sticky sweet taste was anything to go by.

“What are you doing?!” Her eyes flicked to where Severus was standing in a group of boys uncomfortably.

Slughorn smiled at the boys. “Think of it as… a  _ reward  _ for being such good students.”

Snape stepped forward. “Natasha’s my friend! And a student of Hogwarts!” 

The man waved his hand. “She’ll be fine. One spell and she won’t remember a thing.”

Natasha shook her head slightly at Snape, nudging her head towards the door. 

The boy scowled. “Whatever.” He grabbed Lucius Malfoy’s arm, who looked faintly disgusted. “We’re leaving. We’re not involved in this.”

Once the door was closed, the pack of boys looked to her, Slughorn’s smile making her want to be sick. “How are you feeling, my dear?”

Natasha closed her eyes, cataloging the light flutter in her stomach, but noticing that it was stemmed by the heated mark on her right arm for now. Other than a pleasant warmth under her skin and a slight fogginess in her head, she only felt angry. “ _ Hot… _ ” She made a show of fumbling with trying to stand up. “It’s so hot… I need- I need...”

“What do you need?” One of the boys moved forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to him.

The song changed, _‘Sweet Serial Killer’_ by Lana Del Rey coming on. 

She smiled widely, pressing closer to the boy. “I need-” She curled her hands in the boy’s shirt, eyes wide as she looked up at him. “I need an outlet for… all this  _ heat _ .”

The boy grinned, tilting her head back, biting at her neck roughly and she faked a moan easily. 

_ So I murder love, in the night, watching them fall one by one, they fight... Do you think you’ll love me too? Baby, I'm a sociopath- Sweet serial killer- On the warpath, 'cause I love you just a little too much. I love you just a little too much... _

Humming along with the smooth voice coming from the phone speakers, she planted her feet, shoving the boy on her back.

The boy stumbled back, eyes widening at her grin. “Wha-”

“I absolutely  _ loathe  _ rapists.” She flipped back, locking his head between her thighs and then sending him flying to the ground as she flipped into a crouch. 

A few boys pulled out their wands, two scrambling for the door which locked with a click.

“None of you seem to understand.” She shook her head, quoting ‘ _ Watchmen _ ’ easily. “I’m not locked in here with you,  _ you’re _ locked in here with  _ me _ ...” Curses flew her way but she blocked them with strong shield, and upon waving her hand, all the wands in the room flew behind her. “Now… How about we do this the proper way.” She waved them forward.

One of the boys _(most likely a half-blood or someone who had been in the muggle world enough)_ ran at her and she vaulted over the desk to kick him in the throat, slamming her elbow in another boy’s jaw. Two more boys tried to engage her and she ducked their pitiful attack attempts easily, hummed along with the song playing as she quickly knocked them out.

Slughorn was pressed up against the blackboard, eyes wide, while another boy huddled in the corner. “Please. Don’t hurt me, I didn’t mean-”

A pounding came from the door. “Open this door! Right this instant Horace!” Minerva’s voice sounded both scared and angry.

Natasha punched the man and he crumpled to the floor. Rolling her eyes, she walked calmly to the door. The boy in that corner ran away from her, giving a wide berth between them. She picked up her phone lightly, pausing the song and opening the door with a smile. “Can- can I help you?”

Minerva, Riddle, Severus, and Lucius stared at her, before looking past her. 

Her knuckles were bloody, hair messed up, and her neck was bruising where the boy had bit her.

“I think I might- I was... dosed with a- a love po- po-tion...” She felt herself sway, the potion finally overtaking the delay of the enchanted tattoo. 

Falling, she felt strong hands catch her, and she blinked up into furrowed brown eyes a few times before passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Natasha: *ignores basically being poisoned*  
> Natasha: *kicks a guy in the throat*  
> Natasha: *punches Slughorn*  
> Severus: *recording* You're doing great sweetie


	6. Remember That Snake That Tried To Kill You? Yeah- Well He's Tiny Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TOM! TOM! TOM! TOM!   
> I swear to the gods, the people living with me are concerned about my love of Tom the Pure Bean TM  
> But that's okay... I'll convert them eventually *evil laugh*

Madam Pomfrey was as hospitable as ever, fussing over her and making sure she had anything she could need. However to the other boys, the woman’s gaze turned cold and she treated them with no mercy, cleaning their bruises and scrapes without any of her usual tenderness. Natasha heard more than a couple yelps from the boys when their scratches were being treated with antiseptic, smirking to herself. 

Severus and Lucius were interesting company, the blonde boy ranting loudly about how his father would hear about this ‘injustice’ and how he was going to get Slughorn fired. Severus just stayed sitting, rolling his eyes at the blonde’s loud rants, but looked equally upset. They shad been there while she’d been knocked out due to her body fighting off the love potion, keeping away the other students and answering questions, so she let them skip their classes to sit with her.

Then Remus Lupin stormed in, amber eyes narrowed. “What did they do?” Severus flinched slightly as the boy growled lowly, an inhuman sound. “I’ll  _ tear them apart _ -”

“Remus.” She sat up with a wince, grabbing his hand. “You don’t want to do that. Come on. Come back to me...” With his eyes glowing a brilliant orange and his teeth starting to look sharper than normal, she fumbled with her phone, pulling out the headphone jack and clicking play quickly. Another Lana Del Rey song came on and she saw the orange fade, a curious expression coming to Lupin’s face. “What...”

Natasha glanced down, cursing in Russian as she fumbled to pause the song.  _ ‘Cola’  _ wasn’t the best song to be playing in the middle of the med wing. Face red, she glanced up to see the boy was laughing. “Sorry! That wasn’t-”

“What _was_ _that_?” Her eyes shot to where Sirius Black was leaning on a pillar, leering at her, James and Peter next to him.

“Nothing that should bother you!” She clenched her jaw, moving her sore body so her back was leaning against the wall.

“Tasha.” Lucius gave her a haunty glare, but his eyes were worried underneath his pureblood mask. “You shouldn’t be moving.” 

Waving her hand at him, she passed the two slytherins her phone. “Here. Go crazy. Just don’t blame me if you find some… less than appropriate music. Clint used to hack my phone and put songs into my playlists.”

Lucius smiled innocently at her, standing. “Us?  _ Never _ .”

Snape followed the blonde boy, eyeing the marauders as he did. “I’ll keep him from listening to anything too… risky.” With a half-smile, he raced after his friend.

“I’m going to regret that.” She looked up at the ceiling with a smile. “Oh well.”

“You’re okay?” Remus stepped over to her side. “I heard and- well- I wasn’t too happy. Maybe it’s the thing about your smell...”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Smell like  _ shower _ ?... or smell like  _ scent _ ?”

Remus glanced at the three other boys watching them. “My- We alcl him Moony... And he’s saying there’s something off about the way you smell, like you’re part of the pack.”

Natasha blinked. The man had never mentioned this before… She glanced to where the other three boys were standing, gaping. “What does it smell like?”

“It’s… hard to explain, but you make me feel really calm. Something about the smell of raspberries and chocolate… with... leather?”

She felt her lips quirk up, laughing though the ache in her chest.

Lupin tilted his head.

Natasha tried to explain as best she could. “Chocolate and raspberries- someone I loved with all my heart- his favorite chocolates were raspberry flavored, but he never told me why eating them made him so happy…”

The boy tilted his head, orange eyes curious. “What happened?”

“He- he died.” Natasha shook her head, smile sad. “Maybe it was a dream though...”

A warm hand sought hers. “I’m sure he’s not far.”

“I know he isn’t.” Natasha purposefully didn’t look up, as both Sirius and Remus were right there. “Well, you all have class, so go on. You know how irritated teachers get when you’re all late.” She shooed them out, before laying back down with a wince.

 

Staring blankly at the ceiling, she wasn’t surprised when the chair next to her bed was suddenly occupied.

“Seems I have a lot of visitors today.” She glanced to the side at the man, eyes widening when she saw a dark look on the Professor/Dark Lord's face. “... I do hope that you’re not planning to kill me while i’m injured. That would be quite rude, you know.”

Riddle glared at her, before looking away with a irritated huff. “Slughorn’s currently with the  _ aurors _ . “ The eyes narrowed violently on something in the distance, eyes flashing red for a brief second. “But I  _ will  _ find him. He will be disposed of slowly and gruesomely… I will paint the walls with his blood.”

Before she could open her mouth, the man was standing.

“You are under my protection and no one will lay their hands on you without slow and painful consequences.” Then Riddle stalked out of the medicine wing, robes billowing after him.

Natasha was once again proven wrong, surprise washing over her. She had been trained since the moment of her understanding of what emotions were to see them in other people and when in times of strong emotion she could sometimes even see behind strong occulumency walls.

The Dark Lord had something other than jealousy, greed, and obsession in his eyes.

His eyes had held  _ fear _ .

 

Sleeping in the infirmary was hard.

Ever since she’d woken up in her first life as a champion to ruin all around her, people already dead on the ground- she avoided sleeping in the medical wing of Hogwarts. 

So when she got enough feeling back in her body, she swung her legs over the bed, limping her way down the hall. 

Almost to her rooms, she paused and turned to look down the hall to the second-floor girls bathrooms. Shrugging, she stretched as she walked, feeling her muscles slowly loosen to the point it wasn’t overly painful to move.

The marble sinks were tall, in a hexagon, and Natasha eyed them warily. At least this time the snake wasn’t actively awake and hunting down students… Hissing out the command for the entrance to open, she looked down into the dark pit. With a sigh, she commanded the entrance to close and jumped into the tube.

Knowing what came was helpful and she was barely able to land on her feet, stumbling a bit. “Well…” She looked down at the bones on the floor. “I know why Hogwarts doesn't have mice…” Making her way to the large room with marble figureheads of snakes, she looked around, before closing her eyes. “Not sure if this is a good idea, but…  _ Open.” _ With the grinding sound of stone on stone, she waited calmly for the sound of movement. 

Then, with a soft splash from the pool of water, Natasha froze. There was the rippling sound of movement in the water and a something came forward to smell her.

“ _ I am Natasha… Speaker and friend of Hogwarts.” _

With a soft hiss, a low voice echoed back at her.  _ “Speaker Natasha, my name is Abaddon… Why do you close your eyes?”  _ Natasha carefully opened her eyes, to see the normally piercing yellow eyes were green.  _ “I do not wish to kill you speaker. Surely you knew of the second membrane over our eyes?” _

She shook her head, marveling over the snake. “ _ I- I had no idea…  Sorry for staring, but did you say- We?” _

The snake seemed to bear its teeth in a weird sort of smile.  _ “My son, come, join ussss.” _

Tensing, Natasha waited for a huge angry snake to attack her, but instead a small snake only about the thickness of her arm slid across the water, coming up to her. It’s eyes were a light yellow and she took a step back in surprise.

The large basilisk hissed, the sound it's laughter like the hiss of hot coals.  _ “His sight is not yet developed. He has a few more years before he can hunt on his own.”  _ A large head sunk down in front of her face, eyes flicking over her face like it was studying her.  _ “You are a worthy speaker. Yes… you will raise my son. He needs a master and you will do well.” _ Then the snake turned, heading back for the chamber.

Natasha looked down at the tiny snake that had decided to wind up her leg like a clingy toddler.  _ “Wait! Where are you going?” _

Large green eyes looked at her, something almost sad to them.  _ “Child of Death, I have lived far to long as a familiar without a Master, if only to raise my son. But I am weary and tired. Let me go see my Master…” _

A lump formed in her throat, something incredibly sad about the beautiful creature laying down to rest in hopes it would see it's human again after such a long time.

_ “Take care of my child, speaker. He is all that is left of the Basilisks.” _

Then with the finality of a silent goodbye, the snake was gone from the chamber.

She looked down at the tiny basilisk, shaking her head and softly guiding him up so he was curled around her neck, starting for the tunnels. “Can you understand me if I speak english?” The snake bobbed it’s head. “Good. Lovely. My name’s Natasha.”

_ “A-sha.” _

“No...  **Na** **_-ta_ ** -sha”

The snake seemed to grin up at her.  _ “Asha.” _

“Fine. Asha it is.” Waving her hand for some kind of indication of how to get out of here closest to her rooms, she checked the time. “So late... It’s almost  _ breakfast _ for Merlin’s sake!”

_ “Mice?” _

Snorting, she shook her head. “I don’t think there’ll be mice at breakfast, but maybe I can get you some raw bacon... That’s pig.”

“ _ Pig?” _

“Pig.” Natasha made her way to her rooms, setting the snake on her bed, and changing into a tank top and jeans. “Also, you have to stay kind of out of sight, because people aren’t going to like you very much…” She threw on a loose shawl that he could crawl around under. “By the way… Do you have a name?”

The snake looked up from where he was sniffing around her room.  _ “Asha gives me a name.” _

“Um- okay- how about… Sebastian?” The snake bobbed it’s head and she laughed. “Well come on then.” She held out her arm, smiling when he wound up her arm under the sleeve, settling loosely around her throat.

Moving her collar a bit so he would be mostly hidden, she made her way out of the rooms.

So she had a pet then- a deadly pet snake that would grow into having eyes that could kill people and the most renown venom known to wizard-kind.

That was definitely new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny snake! Tiny deadly snake!   
> Also, Breaking News- Local Dark Lord Has Emotions


	7. The Pureblood Problem

As they walked, Sebastian asked her lots of questions, moving so her hair was blocking being seen but so he could look around. Trying to answer the little snake’s questions got her some weird looks, but she was used to it so she kept moving.

Grabbing a book on basilisks from the library and putting it under a glamour, she made her way to breakfast. Late as usual, she pushed open the heavy doors and started to the Slytherin table. But, in the midst of all the voices, someone had seen Sebastian move, head darting out to look around. 

A yell split the noise. “Snake!”

Natasha froze, but Sebastian just poked his head out more, curling around her so he was half sitting on her head and looking out on the crowd.  _ “So many humans. Why are we here Mistress?” _

“Seb… I thought I told you  _ not  _ to come out.” She held up her arm. “Come on. Down from there.”

The snake sulkily hid himself away in her sleeve again.

Natasha looked up at the head table, letting her voice amplify just a bit. “I truly am sorry for that, Headmaster. It seems that I found this little snake roaming around the castle. It seems to have imprinted on me, so I am taking it as my familiar. Is there any objection to that?” Her eyes were cold as she scanned the students.

Dumbledore stood, blue eyes lacking the normal twinkle. “Miss Natasha, you realize you are responsible for any actions your familiar takes?” She nodded and then man waved his hand. “Then there is no need for any speak of the matter.”

With a low bow of her head, she started over to the table of Slytherins, sitting down between Severus and Lucius. “Can I have my phone back?”

Lucius handed the phone back, eyes widening when Sebastian slipped out of her sleeve and onto the table, nudging at the different foods with it’s flickering tongue. “Thats- thats a-”

“Sebastian!” Natasha huffed. “I know you’re impatient but come now, are you really going to make this harder than it has to be for me?”

_ “Asha promised pig.” _

“Right, okay, I did promise you your friggin’ pig.” Snapping, she summoned a house elf. “Can you get me a pound of the rawest meat you can?” With a pop, the elf was back and Natasha made a face at the bowl holding an actual bloody steak. 

The snake’s eyes widened and it darted over to the bowl, tongue flicking out and fangs glinting in the light. “ _ Pig! _ ”

“Yes, it’s a pig. Now back up and let me cut off some pieces or you’ll choke.” When the snake didn’t move she hissed, eyes flashing. “ _ Move back Sebastian! I am tired and you are testing my patience! _ ” 

With a soft hiss, the snake moved to the side.

Natasha set the bowl down and started cutting up little bites, tossing them to the snake, who would snap them up greedily.

“Don’t get me wrong, this is absolutely terrifying- but that’s a basilisk and you can talk to it… Where did you find it?” Lucius looked at her with wide eyes.

_ “Stupid human. Mistress found me with mother.” _

Natasha sent the snake a glare, before looking up and finding the whole of Slytherin table was staring at her. “I’m not really sure how to answer that.” She tossed another piece of meat to the snake and saw that more than a few students flinched when he snapped up the small meat chunk. “But his name is Sebastian.”

Severus looked pale. “And will he-”

“No no no.” Natasha finally caught on to what they’d all assumed. “No, i’m not the heir of- well- that's a lie... But he’s not dangerous- okay, that's another lie…” Natasha frowned. “Sebastian’s eyes can’t hurt you because he’s a baby and he’s my familiar, which means he won’t hurt anyone.”

_ “Unless you tell me too.”  _ The snake rubbed it’s head against her hand.

She chuckled. “Sebastian, stop it you fur-less cat. I’m not going to order you to hurt anyone here.” Ignoring the way the snake suggested people outside the castle, she put the bowl of cut up meat to the side, focusing on cleaning her bloody hands off and putting food on her plate. 

“Can I pet it?” A girl reached her hand out, yelping when Sebastian hissed at her, fangs exposed and eyes narrowed.

“Seb please don’t bite anyone.” Natasha looked at the girl tiredly. “I’ve had him for less than a day. Maybe someday you can pet him, but I think he might take some time in warming up to other people.”

_ “Human girl smells of mud. Her veins are poisoned already.” _

Natasha hissed sharply at the snake, drawing it’s yellow eyes to her again.  _ “Do not say that! Your mother’s master might have thought that, but times have changed! Plus, would you kill me? There is  _ **_mud_ ** _ running through my veins too!” _

The snake narrowed it’s eyes, moving forward to where the inside of her left wrist was, tongue darting out to scent her.  _ “Trator! Mudblood!”  _ It’s mouth opened, fangs glinting, but right before the fangs pierced her skin it paused. Backing away slowly, it moved to look at her.  _ “What would happen... if I killed Asha?”  _ It sounded almost scared, like a child that was afraid of losing it’s parent.

Natasha shrugged.  _ “I would die. Painfully. But I would come back... and then I would have to kill you for betraying my trust. Would you like that?” _

The snake seemed to consider it, eyeing the table before looking back to her.  _ “I can ignore the mudbloods.”  _ It then curled around her arm, rubbing its head back and forth on her hand.  _ “I will not lose Asha. Asha feeds me pig and smells like flowers.” _

“Bipolar friggin’ snake.” Natasha shook her head, running her thumb down the snake’s head before starting to eat again, ignoring the stares. “I can’t believe you’re only not killing me because I feed you. Spoiled brat.”

Breakfast was a quiet and uneasy affair after that.

 

Having had to stop and explain all the different parts of Hogwarts to the tiny snake, Natasha was late to Transfiguration. 

Minerva eyed her as she walked in. “Late Miss Natasha.”

“Sorry Miss, Sebastian wanted to see everything Hogwarts related.” She sat down, sighing when the snake decided to go exploring through the papers. “Seb! Control yourself!” The snake hissed laughingly, winding back around her neck.

McGonagall sent her a strange look but continued on with her lesson. 

Natasha looked up when Sebastian seemed to be listening to a slytherin boy talking loudly, tuning back into the conversation.

“-maybe that’s why muggleborns are so stupid!”

Natasha saw half the students tense up, standing slowly. All the eyes in the room were watching the boy, so she moved silently around the room to stand close to the boy’s desk.

The boy didn’t seem to notice the tension in the class or the way the marauders were gearing up for a fight. “They’re magic is so weak and slow because of their stupid muggle parents!”

She saw both James and Sirius start to move, but in a second she had slammed the boy's face against the desk, grabbing him by the throat and pulling him up.  _ “Sebastian, scare him a bit, will you?” _

_ “My pleasure Asha.”  _ The snake wound up the arm holding the boy in the air, hissing, fangs glinting.

“And just what are you implying?” Her voice was low, eyes stilted. The boy’s nose was bleeding, dripping down her hand. “Now know that as a student I can’t actually hurt you… but you say anything like that again and a very hungry snake might find you when you’re sleeping. Your  _ pure blood _ won’t save you then.”

Sebastian hissed excitedly and the boy yelped, wetting himself.

Natasha dropped him to the floor.  _ “Good boy. Now hiss violently once more.” _

The snake did and the boy scrambled backwards.

“Pathetic.” She pulled a silk handkerchief out of thin air, wiping the blood off her hand and throwing the bloody rag at the boy. “Salazar would be ashamed.” She made her way back to the desk, sitting down calmly. “Sorry about that Professor.”

Minerva’s eyes were wide, slightly afraid. “Natasha! What was that!”

“An example.” Natasha shrugged. “I might be Salazar’s heir, but his views are skewed as the times have changed. Look at Miss Evans for example. She’s the smartest witch in her grade and she’s a muggleborn.” Natasha nodded to the girl, whose eyes were the size of saucers. 

“You can’t just attack students that don’t agree with your ideals! He may not have been right, but I will  _ not _ permit  _ violence _ in my  _ classroom _ ! Detention with Professor Rätsel!” The woman looked afraid even as she issued the command, voice shaking.

Shrugging, she flicked her hand at the desk, the work sorting itself away. “How about I leave early to let you all get back your _delicate_ _sensibilities_ and you can give me two detentions instead.” Without waiting for a response, she moved out of the room.

Natasha found herself in the room of requirement. 

Making her way to the back of the room, careful not to touch anything, she found the diadem. Tilting her head when it didn’t set of her internal warning bells, she carefully reached out and poked it.

Nothing.

There wasn’t a horcrux in the diadem and now realizing it, she noticed it looked completely untouched for the last twenty years at least, a thin layer of dust coating it.

Humming, she wiped it off, conjured up a nice box for it and slid it in her bag. This was definitely different that what she knew.

She’d have to be more careful, especially with variables like this being so different.


	8. Moon Drunk Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do quite love this story ^-^ so angsty yet sweet

Stopping by the kitchens for some food for Sebastian, she slowly made her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Riddle sent a thin half-smile at her when she made her way in late. “Ah, Miss Peverell, so nice of you to join us.... Since you’re late, you get to be the first up to show us how to banish a boggart.”

Natasha’s eyes locked on the trunk rattling at the front of the room, freezing in place. “I don’t think- That’s  _ really  _ not a good idea...”

“Nonsense. Come on, step forward.” The man’s eyes gleamed with curiosity, and she sighed as she moved forward after setting her bag on an empty desk. “Now, let’s see what you fear.”

With a flick of the man’s wand, the trunk flew open.

A mass of what looked like writhing liquid came to float in front of her. Changing shape, the mass flickered. A ballerina was there one second, the next the Winter Soldier, and then it stopped on a group of bodies, lying dead on the floor.

The room gasped, moving back.

Tony’s eyes were blank, arc reactor hanging out of his chest. Steve laying, neck twisted to the side unnaturally. Clint, holding where an arrow was piecing his chest. James Barnes with a knife in his neck. Luna, throat slit wide open. Harry laying still and pale. Remus bleeding from gashes across his chest. Loki’s beautiful eyes, gouged out.

All the people she’d loved, all gruesomely dead. 

And on top of the bodies, sat Sirius Black, holding his stomach as he bled out. **“You could have done more. You could have saved us…”**

She remembered Tony telling her of his vision and her stoumach twisted. 

**"Why didn't you save us Natalia?"**

Sirius' hoarse voice echoed around the room as she bent over, hand reaching out to stabilize herself on a nearby desk, dry heaving as if her body was trying to expel the guilt that had settled heavy in her gut.

Riddle stepped in front of her quickly and the boggart changed swiftly, but before she could identify what it was, he cast the spell to push it back into the truck. Turning to her with surprise in his eyes, his voice was startlingly soft. “What was that?”

Taking a deep breath, she pulled the frayed nerves into herself and stood up, hands shaking. “Congrats." Her voice was choked, rough, and she could feel nothing but all-consuming heat of shame and guilt. "Now you know my greatest fear.” Natasha’s voice was shaking slightly, the sight still imprinted in her brain as if it was branded there. “If you would excuse me…” She practically ran out of the classroom.  

_ “Asha is sad. Why is Asha sad?” _

She shook her head, slipping into a hidden nook in the wall and slumping down against the cold brick. “I- I didn’t think it would be that bad to see them-” A sob wracked her frame and she let herself cry, knowing no one could see the small nook even if they passed.

_ “I watch over Asha.” _ The small snake slid out, curling up in between her and the hallway.

“Natasha?” Remus appeared, stumbling back when Sebastian rose up, hissing at him.

“ _ Seb- Seb he’s a friend.” _ Natasha sniffed, wiping her eyes as the snake wound up her leg. “...What do you want Remus?”

Three more boys slipped in, Sirius glaring at Severus and Lucius. Severus took one look at her and moved forward slowly. “Tasha… I don’t know what that was, but…” He looked back at Lucius for help.

The blonde sighed, moving right up to her and pulling her into a hug. Sebastian only gave him a slight glare. “Come on. This should work. You’re female, stop crying.”

She laughed into his shoulder, shoving him back as she sniffed again. “Shut up Malfoy, you’re incompetent on how to deal with females.” She pulled herself up, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’m fine. I didn’t- Seeing them all dead was a surprise. I expected just Clint, maybe Luna, not- not all of them.”

“It’s not your fault… I’m sure they’re all very alive. It’s not your-” Lucius rubbed her back.

Natasha shook her head. “No. They’re all dead. They’re dead and I’m here, making sure that doesn’t happen again.” Clearing her throat, she straightened up. “I- I have something I need to do. Excuse me.” 

 

Natasha found Riddle sitting at his desk with a pensive look on his face, closing the door behind her. “We need to talk.”

Brown eyes looked at her critically. “You’ve seen a lot of death for a teenager.”

“And you didn’t make any horcruxes, did you?”

There was a stiff silence as they stared at each other. 

Eventually Riddle tilted his head. “You have so much hate in your eyes when you look at me... What did I do?”

Natasha laughed softly, rubbing at her face, and her words echoed those she’d said the last life. “In another life I killed you... In fact, you and I have played the hero and the villain for so long I don’t think I can see you any other way.”

This time, when the man said the same words he had as a boy in her last life, his eyes were unusually soft. “And will you do it again?... Kill me?”

Slightly hysterical laughter bubbled up from her lips as she leaned back against a desk. “You asked me that last time. You were just a boy, in the same class as me right here in these halls, but your eyes- you wanted nothing more than to  _ possess  _ me. I was a  _ trinket _ . An  _ object _ to you.” She shook her head, smile bitter. “I let you- let you possess me and in turn you couldn’t hurt anyone. I bound myself to you for the lives it would save.”

The man made a choking sound.

She ignored it. “And you took that as an excuse to torture me in every way you could.” Her eyes looked up at where the man was staring at her in surprise. “So, let me ask you again. Did you or did you not create any horcruxes?” 

Riddle blinked, watching her for a long moment before shaking his head. “I had a vision while searching the school for power, greed fueling me and anger corrupting my mind. A vision of a woman pleading for me to spare her child… I woke up knowing I would become a man that would orphan a child with no remorse if I kept going as I was. So I focused my attention on changing things differently, through the ministry while some of my more  _ devout _ followers dressed up as Lord Voldemort and caused mayhem. I, however, have never killed a single person... Not one that didn't deserve it anyway.”

Her eyes watched him closely, not yet seeing any signs of lying.

The man smiled bitterly. “I may be considered a Dark Lord by some, with a definite violent streak and eyes that sometimes show my tendency for dark magic, but I am not someone who would split his soul. Not anymore.”

A stillness settled over them again.

Natasha nodded, pushing herself up from the desk. “Then you answered your own question. I don’t think I have need to kill you this time around. Not without reason for me to do so.”

Sebastian poked his head out from her sleeve as she walked towards the door.  _ “Asha feels better?” _

She laughed softly, pulling the door open, and slinging her bag over her shoulder.  _ “Yeah Seb. I'm feeling better.” _

 

Natasha found herself wandering the Forbidden Forest, Sebastian following at her feet happily hissing his excitement at every little thing he saw that was new like a little kid and it made her laugh.

A muted light casting over the ground made her look up, stopping short when she saw it was coming from a unicorn that was munching on a small fern. The creature stopped, lifting it’s head to stare at her and made a short huffing sound.

“Hi there… Can I come pet you?” 

The unicorn whinnied uneasily, but didn’t move as she slowly approached with hands raised. She was inches away from touching the majestic beast, when a howl made it bolt off.

Sebastian curled around her leg and up to her shoulders, eyes flickering around the dark forest uneasily.  _ “Asha… We need to leave.” _

_ “I agree little one.”  _ Backing up slowly towards where she knew the edge of the forest was, she was at the very edge of the treeline, freezing when a branch snapped under her foot. The thumping sound of something running at her had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, and she turned to run towards the castle. The howl echoed through the night again and she stopped running, pausing and letting a laugh tumble out of her lips. “Oh! I know that howl!”

Sebastian hissed frantically, but she stayed put until a familiar form was at the edge of the trees, bright amber eyes watching her closely.

Natasha stepped forward, making Sebastian hiss at her violently, but she ignored him and continued forward slowly. “Hey Moony… You know who I am, don't you? You know that i’m not a threat…” The animals that she vaguely (in the back of her brain) recognized in the shadows of the treeline as the marauders, watched wide eyed as she moved slowly towards the werewolf who was studying her with gleaming amber eyes. 

But after a second, the beast sniffed the air and with a huff it sat down like a dog onto it’s haunches, pressing it’s snout into her outstretched hand and letting it’s gleaming eyes fall shut as it inhaled deeply.

The only thing Natasha could think of was a poem she’d read on a quiet day and her voice was soft in the darkness. “Moon drunk monster, beautiful and strange, howl your melancholy question and tell me: which do you dread more? The echo... or the answer?”

The beast huffed again, moving, but instead of ripping out her throat it just licked her face and then whined sadly.

Natasha laughed, and to the surprise of everyone watching her, pulled the werewolf into her arms. But the creature just sat still and let her run her hands through the thick fur, eventually sinking to the ground and rolling over, letting her scratch his belly while it painted like a dog. “Yeah you big softie. You’re just a big misunderstood wolf, aren’t you? Silly Moons, acting all angsty. You should've told me you needed someone to play with.”

The werewolf’s ears perked up.

Snorting, she looked to where a big black dog was gaping at them. “Hey Sirius, if you’re not too busy staring would you find me a big stick?” An idea coming to mind she waved her hand, summoning a bright yellow frisbee instead. “You know, never mind. We can play fetch with this!”

Padfoot ran over, practically bouncing up and down, barking loudly. After a second a white stag loped over, snorting softly, a small rat on it’s head.

“Ready?” She tossed the frisbee into the woods. “Go!” Both Padfoot and Moony took of after the plastic disk and she grinned.

After a second, two boys were sitting in the grass next to her, James looking up at her with narrowed eyes. “How are you so good with him?”

Natasha shrugged, voice soft. “I guess I know what it’s like to be misunderstood.”

The boy hummed. “Yeah, I guess we all keep forgetting you’re the girl from that prophecy… It’s just so easy to ignore when you act like this.”

She blinked down at him, ignoring how Sirius bounded out of the woods with the yellow disk, Moony at his heels. “What prophecy?”

This prompted a night-long event of playing fetch with two excitable canines while talking to James and Peter about this so-called prophecy.

_ Damn Fate- if she had to bet, the woman had her meddling fingers all over this. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That little poem of Natasha's is not mine- but unfortunately I don't have a source for it


	9. Fear Makes A Good Villain, Love Makes A Great Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleep deprived, magically drained, tired Natasha!   
> What fun!

Natasha slept through her History and Potions classes, slumping in the empty teacher’s chair when she was reporting to detention early and proceeding to fall asleep, the night of sleeplessness catching up to her.

Though when someone cleared their throat loudly, she blinked sleepily up at Riddle, yawning into her hand. “Go’way.”

“Miss Peverell, you’re in my chair.” The voice was amused, as if she was doing something funny.

Batting her hand limply at the air she curled into the chair more. “M’tired. G’way.”

There was a soft sigh, before a hand nudged her shoulder lightly. “Come on you little nuisance. You can’t really expect me to let you sleep after you already slept through all your classes for the day. It was your fault in the first place, staying up as late as you did to play fetch with your  _ interesting  _ choice of friends.”

This had her squinting up at the man with narrowed eyes. “How’d you know about that?”

“You forget that I have papers to grade, because I actually teach?” The man grinned, leaning against his desk in the picture of elegance. “I heard the commotion, went to look out the window, and low and behold there’s Natasha Peverell,  _ hugging a werewolf _ !”

Natasha would forever deny giggling at the man’s exasperated face.

Brown eyes glared at her. “It’s not funny! I thought you were going to be killed!” The man kicked her thigh lightly. “Now get out of my chair you insane she-demon.”

Rolling her eyes, she slowly pulled herself from the chair and they switched places, her hopping up to sit on the man’s desk. “I was just told last night I have a prophecy about me.”

Riddle looked up at her with a frown. “You didn’t know about it?”

“Nope, though I think that has something to do with my mother's meddling...”

Leaning back in his chair, the man crossed his arms. “Any thoughts?”

Humming, she summoned a notepad and pen, jotting down the prophecy from memory. “Yeah, a few ideas. It talks about me with all the warnings and ominousness, which is great, but the whole ‘Dark Lord’ thing has me thinking…  It says that the ‘ending of the Dark Lord has arrived’, what if that just meant that I convince you to stop hiding your political changes behind the mask of being a Dark Lord?” She glanced up at him. “What caused you to try to distract from your politics with the whole Dark Lord business anyway?”

Riddle frowned. “Dumbledore. He’s both the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump, meaning he’d use the excuse of not liking me to block any bills I tried to pass. But with him thinking he’s battling a Dark Lord… He’s not attended a single Wizengamot meeting since I made up Lord Voldemort.” 

“Oh… I should have known.” Natasha glanced back to the paper. “It mentions a traitor in here. I wouldn’t be surprised if when Albus couldn’t find fault with your behavior at Hogwarts and then having you pop up as a supposed Dark Lord that he went a bit crazy with guilt for not seeing it and did something he’d regret… Betrayed his morals more than a little bit.”

They both thought over that in silence.

She glanced up, eyes apologetic. “Please try not to get freaked out… Death?”

With a cold chill across the room a figure dressed in a flowing black cloak made of darkness appeared, sythe dragging on the stone floor,  voice a rattling hiss. “You call Mistress?”

Riddle jolted back and she glared back at the figure. “Please stop messing around. It’s not funny if you scare him to -well-  _ death _ .”

With a chuckle, the cloaked figure melted away to the tall woman with the pitch black hair. “You need a better sense of humor.”

“And you need a better fashion sense. Now can you answer two questions for me really quickly?”

Death shrugged. “Maybe.”

Natasha sighed. “Did Tom Riddle make any horcruxes?” The man in question glared at her and she just shrugged. “Just covering all the bases.”

The woman grinned. “Nope.”

“What about Dumbledore?”

With a secretive smile, the woman leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Have fun finding out! Toodaloo!” And without another word the woman was gone.

Tom leaned forward, eyes still wide.  _ ((And since when was he Tom in her brain?)) _ “You… You’re the Master of Death.”

Natasha waved her hand around, brain running a million miles an hour even as she yawned, her magic feeling slightly frayed. “Well more like Death’s honorary niece, because Lady Magic is like my strange mother figure that likes to fuck with my plans, but yeah I guess- Though they both like sitting in this big white room and drinking tea that usually tastes like things that shouldn’t be possible, but-”

Long fingers curled around her waving hand, weighing it down so it hung at her side loosely. “I think I get the picture. I also think that your sleep deprivation is catching up to you.”

“Yeah…” She yawned. “I haven’t died since my arrival here and my body isn’t at full capacity for that reason, so my magic’s working overtim-” Standing, she swayed slightly, firm hands on her waist keeping her from tipping over. “Whoa… That's a head rush...”

_ “Asha, do you want me to bite this human?” _

Natasha reached up to stroke at the basilisk poking its head out of her collar, the other hand on Tom’s wrist to steady herself.  _ “No honey, it’s okay, he’s alright. I trust him.” _

Tom tilted his head at her. “You’re a parseltongue.” It wasn’t a question. “How?”

She grinned, slipping into the tongue of the snakes.  _ “Magic Tom... Magic.” _

The man rolled his eyes and in a swift move sweeped her into his arms like she was a sack of potatoes. “I swear, if you fall asleep in the arms of the person you spent however many lifetimes hating, i’ll-” He glanced down to find her fast asleep, huffing softly. “No sense of preservation whatsoever. I swear to Merlin you’re going to be the death of me...”

 

_ Tom wordlessly opened the common room door, walking in, and within seconds both Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy had their wands trained on him from where they seemed to have been waiting up from Natasha to come back.  _ _ “What did you do to her!” _

_ With a long-suffering sigh, the man carefully adjusted his arms so that he could hold the girl’s sleeping form and take out his wand, looking at the boys as he slowly held it up. “I swear on my magic that I have not and will not harm Natasha Peverell unless with her explicit consent.” Rolling his eyes and carefully stowing away his wand again, the man shifted the redhead in his arms to balance her weight, voice bored. “She fell asleep during detention. Since i’m the temporary Head of Slytherin, I thought I should get her to the dorms instead of having her sleep on a desk.” _

_ Both boys relaxed at the vow, Snape sitting back in an armchair by the fire, and Lucius pointed to a set of stairs. “Up there. Very end of the hallway.” The blonde boy fidgeted. “Oh and... Milord?” _

_ Tom’s eyes flicked to the boy, sure his impatience was clear on his face. “What?” _

_ “I’m sorry for raising my wand at you.” The boy’s voice was shaking, as if he just now realized what he’d done. _

_ “I’ll ignore it this time, but only because it was for her.” His eyes drifted down to the girl in his arms, her face buried against his shoulder, blood red hair falling around her like a veil. When he looked back up, his eyes were cold. “If it was anyone else you had defied me for, you would have regretted it. But as I am feeling rather tired myself I will leave you with a single task in compensation.” _

_ The boy looked up, eyes wide. “What is it My Lord?” _

_ “Do try to keep her out of trouble.” Brushing past the boy, he padded up the stairs, wandlessly opening the door at the end of the hall.  _

_ The room was surprisingly cozy. A blanket half thrown over an armchair by a fireplace, a few books lying about a small coffee table and clothes hung about on the pieces of furniture. He could see the redhead dancing around the room singing under her breath like he’d heard her do in the halls.  _

_ The image in his head was startlingly domestic and he forced himself to wipe the soft smile from his lips, chiding himself softly. “She’s another nuisance. An accomplice in helping take Dumbledore down. Nothing more.”  _

_ But he laid the girl down softly in the bed, pulling off her muggle shoes gently, reaching over to grab the blanket from the armchair and draping it over her. He stood there for a long moment, before huffing at his own behavior and forcing himself to leave. _

_ ‘Creep’ his mind supplied unhelpfully.  _

_ Nodding to the two boys who were sitting by the fire playing wizard chess, he walked back to his classroom.  _

_ Sinking into his chair, he blinked at where a canvas bag was leaning against the foot of his desk. Curiosity damning him to the fiery pits of hell, he opened the bag, thumbing past the notebooks and stopping on a squarish jewelry box. Cracking it open, he stared at what looked unmistakably like the diadem of Ravenclaw for a long moment, before shaking his head with a fond smile and sliding the box back in the bag- not even a bit mad that she'd found where he'd stashed the item when he'd been rejected a teaching position here the first time. _

_ Yes, there was something definitely wrong with him when it came to Natasha Peverell. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just die a little every time I think of soft Tom Riddle because I am w e a k


	10. The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly but gets faster each minute...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to ^-^

Natasha was almost excited for the physical aspect of the defense class, having been getting her exercise by running the grounds early mornings or dancing in the Room of Requirement.

And yet, running to the Black Lake (with Severus and Lucius chasing after her), in a sports bra and leggings with Sebastian curled around her shoulders was more fun that she’d expected. The two boys had taken one look at her and promptly tried to get her to go change, to which she evaded them easily.

With a wide grin, she saluted Tom, who had an exasperated look on his face. “Miss Peverell… what are you wearing?”

Licking her dry lips she realized that the 1970’s were more conservative, if the loose pants and button ups most everyone else was wearing was any indication, and she shrugged. “They’re called leggings and they’re the comfiest things since sweaters. Plus then I can do this.” Setting down Sebastian gently, she sunk into a backbend, flipping up to stand on her hands. Doing the splits, she touched a foot down, kicking herself back up to standing. “Very flexible. They’re great for exercise.”

Dark eyes glowered at her. “Very well.” With one last glare, the man turned to the rest of what seemed to be the entire seventh year class, clapping his hands to get their attention. “Listen up! We’re going to start this off easy! Jog down to the edge of the Black Lake, pick up a pebble, and then come back! The last person to get back will get to be the  _ volunteer  _ for our next task!”

The boys all started to shift, Sirius looking to her and wiggling his eyebrows.

Tom shot a red spark in the air from his wand. “GO!”

Weaving through the crowd, she met the shaggy-haired boy at the front of the kids fumbling to get running, James on her other side. “You think you can beat me you mangy mutt?”

Sirius grinned. “You’re on!”

They both sped up, Natasha not to be outmatched by the cocky teenager. Skidding to the edge of the lake, she grabbed a pebble, bumping Sirius and sending the teen into the shallow water. “Oops! My bad!”

Hearing a growl, she sprinted off, glancing back and grinning as she saw the half-drenched boy chasing her with a vengeance. Running up, she hid behind Tom, breathless laughter falling from her lips. “He- he’s gonna- gonna kill me.”

Sirius skidded to a halt in front of the tall professor who looked mildly amused. “She pushed me in the lake! Isn’t that against the rules?”

The man turned to look down at her, lips twitching slightly. “Did you push Mr. Black into the lake?”

Natasha glanced at Sirius, laughing slightly, a wide grin on her lips. “Yeah. Guilty as charged.”

Tom sighed. “I think you volunteered yourself for the next task then.”

Sirius smirked at her. “Serves you right, redhead.”

“Shove it, dog breath.” Natasha sat down in the grass, smiling at where Sebastian had wrapped himself around Tom’s leg.  _ “You warm enough Seb?” _

The snake looked at her, bobbing his head.  _ “Asha is busy with stupid human things, so I will stay with Mistress’ bond mate.” _

Tom coughed into his hand at this, Natasha feeling her face heat up.  _ “He’s not- Tom’s my partner in crime, not whatever your little snakey brain is thinking.” _

The small basilisk didn't sound convinced.  _ “Tom speaker carried you back to your nest. He’s your bond mate.”  _ The snake ignored the glare that both her and Tom gave him, winding around the man’s leg more.  _ “I don’t mind. I don’t mind watching hatchlings either. I promise not to eat them.” _

Natasha sputtered, putting her hand to her face.  _ “Sebastian we talked about this, remember? I can try to find you a companion of your own kind, but I can’t have hatchlings. Those men in the white coats I talked about the other night when I woke up from a bad dream, they made sure I can’t have hatchlings. Remember?” _

_ “I remember... I want to find those humans and rip them piece from piece.” _

She ran her hand over the snake’s small scales.  _ “Sorry love. I’m afraid that I took that pleasure from you a long time ago. But if it makes you feel better, they all burned alive... very slowly.” _

“As they should...” Tom’s muttered words were low and dark, making her glance up at, but the man was glowering at something in the distance. After a moment, those chocolate eyes drifted down to her, face carefully impassive. “You ready for the next task?”

Giving Sebastian one last scratch under his chin, she stood up, stretching. “Mhm. What’cha got for me?”

Tom took the stones he’d been collecting, tossing them in the grass and waving his wand. A large structure appeared in the grass over what looked like a mud pit, the bars on the structure reminding her of monkey-bars. Smiling at her, amused, he waved his hand to the structure. “Make your way across and back without falling in the mud.”

Scoffing, she rolled her shoulders, climbed onto the starting platform. Swinging herself out, she swung across the bars easily to the other side, turning around and then pulling herself up on top of the structure. Grinning down at where Tom was frowning, she balanced on the bars, walking across easily before swinging herself down with a laugh. “How’s that?”

“Why are you even here?” The professor deadpanned, looking away from her to where Sirius had taken her challenge and was swinging across the bars.

The teen then did the same thing she did, standing on the bars with a look of utter concentration on his face. He was doing fine, but the bars were rounded and so with a bad step he slipped. 

Before anyone could raise their wand, she’d flicked her wrist, stopping the boy’s fall only a foot from the ground. Sirius looked at her, relieved, but then she let go of the spell, dropping him in the mud.

Tom buried his face in a hand even as his lips were quirking up, the class around them laughing. “Detention, Natasha, for antagonizing a classmate.”

 

Natasha kept up with Tom’s long strides easily. “Thank you for getting me back to the dorms last night. Sev and Luc told me you carted me in. Not dying after changing dimensions really messes up my magic.”

“I’d be happy to kill you if you wanted.” The man muttered, steps seeming faster than usual.

She caught his wrist, frowning when he stopped but wouldn't look at her. “What’s up? You’re being more snappy than usual.”

The man scowled at her, tugging away his wrist, but it seemed halfhearted. “Come on you hell-beast. You have class soon if i’m not mistaken and you forgot your bag in my classroom.”

Natasha eyed his broad back, but followed him nonetheless, sure he’d bring up what was bothering him when he wanted to.

 


	11. Regrets In Gardening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^-^ I'm laughing maniacally

She hadn’t noticed (what with being half asleep on her feet) but  _ Tom  _ was the person filling in for Slughorn until Yule break. So when she got into her music, playing the drums with drumsticks she’d summoned as Severus diced the flog livers, Tom was the one who loomed over her with a frown. “Miss Peverell, can you please stop that infernal racket and help your partner with the potion.”

“But Professor… I was just accompanying the music that we are listening to.” She smiled sweetly, as if she hadn’t been trying to annoy the man all day now, knowing he was keeping something from her.

Tom narrowed his eyes, holding out his hand.

Natasha let the drumsticks disappear with a widening grin.

Narrowing his brown eyes, he moved his hand forward. “The music device please, Miss Peverell.”

With a low huff, she shot Severus an apologetic look, handing over the phone and headphones. Tom started back to the desk. “Oh- and don’t listen to the music under the label ‘saucy’!” 

The man sent her a withering glare, sitting at the desk and tapping at the phone with a puzzled frown. Raising an eyebrow at the device in his hands, he moved to put one of the earphones in his ear. 

Severus and her watched this, trying to hold back their smiles, but it wasn’t until the man in question turned bright red and ripped the earphone out did they burst out laughing. Stalking back to her, the man set the phone down in front of her, face still red. His voice was muttered, but still audible. “I despise your existence.”

This just made her laugh harder, earning her another week of detention.

 

As it was, detention was really the only interesting part of her day. 

Not that class wasn’t its own form of entertainment, but this version of Tom was really growing on her. 

They talked about everything from how best to ( _hypothetically_ ) kill someone, to the laws that Tom was working on, to objects Dumbledore might have used as horcruxes, and then some.

No matter the topic, when they disagreed they both had a bad habit of provoking the other.

Just the other day she’d gotten them into a heated debate of the best type of drinks, the argument between vodka and firewhiskey ending with them sitting at opposite ends of the classroom ignoring each other (after they’d had an intense shouting match over the subject), and it was twenty minutes before the man finally admitted he’d never had the clear muggle liquor.

So Natasha skipped into detention with two goblets the next day, summoning a bottle of vodka and some cranberry juice.

The man watched her with amused eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Making you a drink.” She summoned up a lime and a knife, cutting it up quickly and putting a wedge on the rim of each goblet before mixing the drink and pouring it in. Sending away all the bottles, she set the drink down in front of the man.

He stared at it blankly. 

She hopped up onto a desk, snorting and taking a sip of her drink. “It’s not poisoned, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Dark eyes looked at her, one of his eyebrows raised. “And are you old enough to drink that?” 

“Darling i’m at  _ least _ double your age. Now drink it, before I do.” She rolled her eyes.

Tom gently lifted the drink up, taking a sip. After a second he looked at her with a half-smile. “Not bad.”

Natasha smiled, moving to sit on the edge of his desk, nodding. “So… is it better than firewhisky?”

With a groan, the man sunk back in his chair. “You don’t give up, do you?”

She grinned. “Nope.”

 

Tom was currently grading papers while she read an Agatha Christie novel, perched on the edge of his desk.

“Who were they?”

She blinked up at the man, who was wearing that dark look of his that he got when he was thinking of hurting someone. “Who were... who?”

Eyes darker than she'd seen before fixed on her. “Who were the muggles that made it so you can't have children.” The mans tone was flat, but she could hear a familiar tense fury behind it, like with Slughorn.

Her head tilted to the side, book resting on her lap, the topic reminding her to ask about the vile ex-potions professor. “Whatever happened to Slughorn?”

“He kindly painted one of the manor’s walls a stunning red. Stop avoiding the question.”

Natasha sighed, laying back across the large desk and therefore on top of his grading papers, but Tom didn’t seem to mind. “It was four lives ago. They were Russian scientists, convinced they could make the perfect spy for the war. I was the byproduct of that… I don't really mind that much, even if it is hard to look good in bikinis anymore.”

Tom's fingers tapped at the arms of his chair for a long second, eyes burning with a question but lips unwilling to move. Finally the man leaned back in his chair, running a hand though his soft brown hair. “Will you join me at the Malfoy Manor for Yule? We still have yet to figure out the Dumbledore issue and I would greatly appreciate the company of someone I can stand for extended periods of time during the break.”

Turning her head to look over at him, she nodded slightly. “Sure. But I have to go shopping for presents the first day of break and check to make sure the house elves haven't gotten too lonely in my big manor.”

“Need an escort?” The man’s voice was soft again, eyes like slowly melting chocolate. “I would quite enjoy seeing the  _ elusive  _ Peverell Manor.”

Watching the shade of the brown eyes change to something softer as the man tapped rhythmically at the ends of his armrests, she searched for the breath that her lungs seemed to have misplaced. “Yeah. Okay.”

 

With her canvas bag packed with the few small things she didn’t trust the wards around her dorm room to keep safe and some clothes, she walked down to where Tom was waiting at the edge of the wards with his back to her. “I don’t think i’ve ever been out on the town with a Dark Lord before. I expect it will be entertaining though.”

The man turned, a small smile on his lips. “I assure you the most that will happen is maybe being stopped by someone that wants to talk about my politics. But no, most all of the attention will be because of you, my dear troublemaker.”

Natasha huffed, looking down at Sebastian who was curled possessively around her arm.  _ “Darling since we’re side-along apparating, why don’t you hold onto Tom, so that you don’t get hurt?” _

Sebastian looked less than amused, but moved to curl around the man’s arm.  _ “Mistress’ bond mate smells like strange spices. Asha’s flower smell is much more comforting. And warm.” _

Seeming to ignore the snake, Tom reached out to take her smaller hand in his, locking their fingers. “Onwards, to Diagon Alley.” And with the feeling of someone pulling on her intestines with a meat hook, they appeared in a designated apparition point for the Alley.

Steadying herself, she gripped onto the man for a long moment, before nodding and pulling back. “Sorry. Traveling magically is never as comfortable when i’m the one along for the ride.” She looked around, ignoring the stares she was getting. “So... what should I get for presents?”

Tom seemed more than content to just shadow her around, throwing in snarky comments or small pieces of advice in when he felt it necessary, and she only really found herself out of his sight when she went to do some last-minute business with the goblins. 

Emerging from Gringotts half and hour later, with a long suffering sigh and the Emrys house ring on her finger, Natasha found the man eyeing her as if looking for any sign of wounds. “What… are you doing?”

The man’s lips thinned a bit. “You have an aptitude for getting into trouble like no one else I know. I was checking to make sure you came out in one piece.”

Laughing, she grabbed the man’s hand, pulling him from the bank. “I’m fine, but we still have to go to the manor!” This time at the apparition point, she wrapped her arms around the man in a hug, grinning. “Hold on.”

Without waiting for his response, she apparated them into the wards, her magic adjusting the wards as she did to allow him since she was with him. Finding long fingers were clenched into the fabric of her t-shirt, she waited patiently for the man to stop looking dizzy. 

“I admit that the wards on this place, being magic death placed herself, are quite impressive. If you hadn’t been holding onto me they probably would have killed you instantly.”

This didn’t seem to reassure the man, who glared down at her, but slowly uncurled his hands from her shirt to let her give him space. “I really do loathe you sometimes.”

Natasha was about to retort, but was attacked by three house elves who were over-joyously clinging to her. “Missis Natashy is home and with a guest! What can we do for Missis and guest?” 

Hugging the elves back, she smiled. “Maybe some hot chocolate? I get the idea that my guest will very much want to explore the library while I do what I need to around the house.” The elves nodded, popping away and she waved at the tall man. “Come on then. I’ll show you the library before I have to check on a few things.”

 

The Peverell manor was warded by, maintained by, and controlled by death’s magic. This meant that though Natasha had changed dimensions and timelines, this manor was the same as she’d left it in her last lives. Which, after spending time turning the ballroom into an extension of her library and adding a large pool in the backyard, she was very grateful for. 

As it was, the library covered about thirty thousand square feet. With death magic seeping into the walls of the building, the library had literally turned into a maze, sometimes the walls moving or passages appearing that weren’t there before. She’d gotten lost in the library many times before, hence the ball of string tied to the doorknob.

Picking it up, she handed it to the man. “If you go in you might need this to get out within a reasonable time limit. This library is the holder of some of the most fantastic books you will ever lay eyes upon and yet it will trick you into getting so lost you don’t know up from down.” She patted the ball of string. “Hence the string.”

Tom’s brown eyes were molten, amusement seeming to seep out his pores. “Your library is a labyrinth. Why am I not surprised?”

Natasha shrugged. “Feel free to stay as long as you want. I have to check on my plants and potions, maybe get my bike out of storage- just stuff that‘s relatively boring. If you’re still in here when i’m ready to go i’ll just come find you.”

What she didn’t mention was that the potion she had to let sit for exactly 300 days was that to alter the curse on werewolves, allowing them to just be normal wolf animagi, and the plant that the house elves were forbidden to touch or try to water was a blood lily- a rare plant that could cure most wizarding ailments when fully grown but required blood instead of water for sustenance.

Checking the tempus on her potion, satisfied that it was going well, she then made her way to the back of the greenhouse and slowly opened the doors to a room washed in red light. The blood lily was a extremely temperamental magical plant, and like any living creature it could go spans without nourishment but also got more and more ravenous as that time passed. 

Staying a careful distance from the plant, she summoned a knife, cutting a long slit across her wrist. The blood pooled, but instead of falling to the floor, it ran like it was being sucked through a tube into the plant’s thrashing vines. Humming softly, she made a second cut, watching as the two streams of blood were absorbed by the plant and how the flowers seemed to glow with a red hue.

Distracted by carefully cleaning off her knife, she felt a cold sting, and looked down to where a cut had opened up on her thigh with wide eyes. With the displacement of wind the only indicator, another sharp barbed vine shot out, creating two more cuts on her skin.

Trying to stumble back, away from the now all-consuming sucking feeling of the blood lily, she found herself caught in barbed vines. Cutting up her skin as they wrapped tighter around her, soon her head pounded with the rhythm of the blood being pumped from her veins.

She heard a voice in the distance yell her name (or something like it), but she was too far gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well... she had to die eventually...


	12. 10 Ways To Kill A Wolf With Apple Pastries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We stan morally grey people in healthy loving relationships in my purple house of mangoes ^-^

Groaning as all her motor functions returned to her in a rush of feeling that made her brain ache, Natasha proceeded to curl up into a ball, covering her eyes as she tried to stop her head from pounding.

“You might want some coffee...”

Ignoring the fact of not knowing where she was, she held up her hand, the cup of warm liquid floating to meet it with a wordless summoning and levitation charm. Moving stiffly, she gulped down the coffee that was just as she liked it- with a spoonful of hot cocoa mixed in. Blinking, she rubbed at her eyes, trying to recognize her surroundings. 

At least the man in the chair by the nearby fireplace was familiar and a question fell from her lips instinctively. 

“What did you do to my plant?”

A flicker of irritation crossed the man's face as he looked up from a worn book he was reading. “You mean the plant that actively drained all of your blood and was seconds away from latching onto me, when I grabbed you and slammed the door shut?  _ That _ plant?” 

“Yeah.”

Tom Marvolo Riddle looked about ready to set her on fire, but after a long second of gripping the arms of his chair with his eyes narrowed, he just sighed and sent her a weak glare. “It's alive. For now.”

Natasha let herself relax back, finally able to concentrate on her surroundings. From the guess of being in the Malfoy Manor (because that was the planned destination after the stop at the Peverell Manor after all), she looked around the room in surprise. Instead of the deep green coloring she was expecting, this room was washed in a deep royal blue color with silver trimmings and decorations.

Smoothing a hand over the bed beneath her, she hummed, the blanket soft to the touch. Waving her hand so the empty mug floated to the side-table, she moved to curl up under the blanket, enjoying the weight settling over her. 

_ “Asha is nesting?”  _ The snake that was just wider than the thickness of her arm slid over the covers to where her eyes were barely uncovered. 

Her reply was muffled by the blanket.  _ “I’m letting my magic settle while I stay warm.” _

The snake bobbed it’s head, turning so it’s eyes fixed on Tom, who was obvious in watching them from over his book.  _ “I will get Asha’s bond mate, so Mistress can nest properly.” _

Snorting, she ignored the tiny basilisk in sake of focusing on where her magic was slowly stitching up any rips and tears in her core caused by the dimensional travel that she'd gotten from coming here.

The bed dipped and she blinked up at where an amused Tom had moved to sit right next to her against the headboard, book still in hand. “Your snake is quite insistent I come sit with you. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Yeah.” Natasha stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re an idiot.”

“Very mature. I am almost inclined to believe you are as old as you look.” Tom rolled his eyes and returned to his book.

Feeling Sebastian slither into the sheets and curl loosely around one of her arms, she went back to her meditation, barely registering the long fingers that started to card through her hair gently.

 

Waking up slowly from the deep meditative state of repairing her magical core, she glanced up to see Tom had fallen asleep reading. His head was tilted to the side lightly, fingers of one hand loose around the book, the other hand resting softly in her hair.

Slowly sliding out of bed with a finger to her lips to keep Sebastian quiet, she waved her hand, levitating Tom down the bed just enough so his neck wouldn’t be sore. Changing into leggings and a loose blouse, she went to explore the familiar Manor.

Natasha had been somewhat familiar with the Malfoy Manor since her last life _(though she shuddered at the thought of those memories)_ , so she found the kitchens easily. 

Over twenty pairs of huge round eyes looked up at her when she walked in.

“Hello. May I use some of your kitchen space to make some pastries?” The elves all looked as if they wanted to cry and she backtracked quickly. “I don’t mean to take your work from you, because you’re all doing wonderfully and I don’t think I can ever compare my cooking to yours, but I like to bake sometimes as a way to start my day...”

With that cleared up, the elves all took an immediate liking to her, ushering her into the kitchen and setting up a small space for her to make apple turnovers. 

Eventually she found herself singing Disney songs for the small creatures as she kneaded out dough, Sebastian sleeping in an imitation of a sad scarf- lazily wrapped around her shoulders.

The door to the kitchen slammed open when she was just about to start peeling the apples. “SHUT YOUR NOISE, YOU MISERABLE CREATURES!”  

All the elves flinched back and Natasha turned to look at the man who had burst in, eyes crazed and hair a mess of grey knots. The man leered at her lecherously, starting to stalk forward. “And what do we have here? Some pretty little bird got lost in the manor...” 

The man’s facial hair was overwhelmingly out of control, but he was still the same insane werewolf she knew as Fenrir Greyback.

The elves tried to stand in front of her, eyes wide. “Don’t hurt the missis! Missis is nice! Don’t touch her!”

“You’re quite rude to them, you know.” Natasha watched the man calmly as he pushed his way through the crowd of elves. “Interrupting my singing is one thing, but harming the people that want nothing more than to serve you? You truly _are_ a wild dog.”

Greyback snarled, batting away one of the elves harder than needed and sending it to the ground roughly.

Making a soft sound of disgust, she snapped, watching coldly as the man was bound in thick steel cords and dragged over to hang by his feet from the corner of the kitchen. Moving to the side of the little elf that had been injured, she knelt down. “Are you alright? I’m sorry about that...” Casting a healing spell, she watched the cut on the elf’s forehead close, smiling gently. “Feel better?”

The elf nodded viciously. “I owe Missis my life! Missis is too kind!” 

Instantly the elves were all crowding around her like she was some higher power.

Softly discouraging their want to worship her, she finally had gotten back to her apple turnovers, when the door was thrown open yet again. 

Tom looked around the room, freezing when he met her eyes, the tension bleeding from his tall frame slowly as he stared at her. “I thought you had surely gotten into some kind of trouble, what with the people wandering the-...” The man’s eyes landed on where Greyback was turning purple in the corner, eyes flicking back to her and seeming to scan for injuries. “What is Fenrir doing hanging upside down in the corner?”

Natasha waved a hand lazily, a sheepish smile curving her lips. “Well I was singing and he stormed in, decided to threaten to either hurt me or touch me in ways I  _ wasn’t  _ about to be enjoying, and then he hurt one of the elves… so I hung him from the ceiling. Though you should probably let him down before he passes out.”

“I _see_ …” Eyes that seemed to glow like rubies locked on the werewolf, before they settled back to dark inky orbs. “Do you mind if I borrow him from you?”

She turned back to her pastries with a halfhearted shrug. “Not at all. In fact he was ruining the atmosphere of the kitchen anyway.” Hearing the werewolf being dragged across the floor she grinned viciously for a second, before she squashed the sadistic glee and instead focused on the warm light feeling in her chest. “I’ll come find you when i’m done with these pastries!”

There was a pause in the dragging sound. “I would like that very much.” 

Then the door swung closed and she went back to singing softly to calm the skittish house elves. 

Though, when muffled screams echoed through the Manor, not even her singing could help the trembling creatures, so she settled for a silencing charm and soft piano music instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can make exceptions for about any character- hence my love for Tom- but Fenrir just really really really pisses me off and i'm not 100% sure why...


	13. People-Induced Panic Attacks Really Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *forgets to update for a long while then scrambles to update* I really need a frickin' schedule for these things...

Knocking lightly on the door of the biggest study she assumed Tom would be in, Natasha was greeted with a cold, “What!”

Pushing open the door with a raised eyebrow, she saw the man in question scowling down at a pile of papers. “Nice to know you haven’t forgotten your manners...”

Tom looked up, seeming surprised to see her. “I thought you’d be in the kitchens most of the day.”

“So the excuse you're using is that your barely passable manners extend to just me? How nice to know.” She moved into the room, setting the tray she was carrying down on an unused part of the man’s desk. 

The man glanced from her to the food, then back to her, eyes amused. “Well I can’t exactly kill you and I find you quite fascinating- as I believe I said before- so yes, you are allowed the barest of my manners.” The man looked at the tray again. “Cheese, meat, wine, and… pastries?”

Natasha shrugged, laying herself across one of the closest chairs. “It’s a classic cure for the dreadful scowl that was spoiling your pretty face. The goblets are also  _ delightfully _ endless.” Emphasizing this, she drowned the glass of sweet elven wine, grinning when it was slowly refilled.

“I dare say that I will have to carry you to dinner if you keep drinking like that, which would be tiresome. You may be the person of which I hold the highest regard of in this manor, but I will kill you myself if you make me carry you around again.” Tom’s eyes were a golden honey color as he said this, the soft look in those beautiful eyes contradicting his stern tone. 

Chuckling, she put the goblet to the side, instead feeding Sebastian pieces of meat while she nibbled on an apple pastry.

The room was quiet as Tom worked through his stack of papers, Natasha switching between talking to Sebastian, looking at the walls lined with books, and stretching her sore limbs.

She was stretching her back while mid-splits, when the man cleared his throat. “What are you  _ doing _ ?”

“Stretching?”  

With a long suffering sigh as if it pained him to do so, Tom stood from his desk, walking over and holding out a hand for her. “I suppose that it is time for lunch. Maybe then you can find one of your little friends to annoy instead of loitering around my office.”

Accepting the hand, she stood and then moved to walk with him, swinging the man’s arm just to see the glint of annoyance in his warm honey colored eyes. “Awww you’ll miss my presence Thomas! Admit it, you’d rather have me around distracting you than be alone with that scowl on your face!”

The man scoffed, following her to the dining room where she let go of him in turn for pulling Severus and Lucius into twin hugs.

 

_ Tom stared at the papers in front of him, words seeming to blur and make less sense the longer he stared at them, and as much as he tried not to let it, his face slipped into a deep scowl. _

**_‘It’s a classic cure for the dreadful scowl that was spoiling your pretty face.’_ **

_ Natasha’s teasing words rung out in his head and he looked up, half expecting to see the girl laying over one of his armchairs like a wet blanket or hissing quietly in parseltongue to her little companion, but there was no one other than him to be seen. _

_ Cursing softly in the serpent tongue, Tom ran a hand over his face tiredly. _

_ What was happening to him?  _

_ First with the fear that would make his lungs squeeze- like when he’d watched Natasha collapse after telling them she’d been dosed with a love potion, or when he’d woken in an empty bed with no sign of the girl in sight... _

_ Then the white hot anger that coursed through him at the thought of anyone hurting a single hair on the small redhead, and the warm feeling in his chest when the girl smiled- when he’d been gently running his fingers through her silky blood red hair… _

_ Although now there was a knot twisting in his stomach. One that would get tighter the more time he saw Natasha wink playfully at one of her friends or give out her warm hugs to just about anyone who asked. Tighter and tighter the knot twisted as he saw the two Slytherin boys she hung around soaking up her smiles and easy affection like sponges. _

_ Tom found himself tapping his fingers on the arms of his chair in the maddening way Natasha hated, the girl always leaning over to grab his hands and thread her fingers into his with a smile.  _ **_‘Now you can’t annoy me, because I caught your fingers fair and square. Also, you’re not getting them back until you tell me what’s wrong.’_ **

_ But there was no one to hold his hands gently and make his arms tingle with warmth, so the sound just kept going, echoing in the empty room. _

_ He was well and truly in a mess of a situation, wasn’t he? _

 

Natasha had spent the day wandering through the snowy gardens with the boys, having flown around the Quidditch pitch for a bit, but as Severus wasn’t a fan of heights they had decided just to walk around.

She adored both of the boys. They were both really very sweet and big-brotherly-like, but they were more than a little boring to her. The conversation didn’t go past girls, school, and house drama, so she found herself woefully unengaged.

Even Sebastian had curled around her waist like a belt, hissing complaints about the cold weather and boring non-speaker humans.

And as much as she agreed- part of her really wanting to go back to sitting with Tom- she knew she could probably only get away with so much time spent around the older man before he threw a curse at her and she’d be forced to deal with the realization that she was just another source of entertainment to the cold-hearted man.

Natasha was really hoping it didn’t come to that. 

Tom was fun to talk to, had a wonderful taste in literature, the same sense of humor as her, and his stupidly handsome face was growing on her like some sort of poisonous fungi.

She didn’t want to lose the man because she was overly clingy, hence hanging out with the two teenage boys and listening to them try to guess how big Marlene’s boobs were.

((Insert tired sigh here -->))

Finally dinner approached and both Lucius and Abraxas (whose face still made her hackles raise slightly) were happy to delegate her to fetch Tom from his study- which she accepted if just to get the chance at an actually engaging conversation.  But when she got closer to the room she realized why the two Malfoys had been so pleased that she wanted to fetch the man, feeling the chill of his magic in the air the closer she got.

Peaking in the study carefully, not wanting to get a crucio thrown at her at the moment, she heard the sound of tapping. The tapping of long fingers on the arms of the chair signifying he was frustrated, usually caught up in his brain.

With a small smile, she padded noiselessly over to where the man was rigidly sitting with his eyes closed, obviously lost in his own thoughts.

Moving to sit cross-legged on the desk in front of him, she quickly pushing his hands up and intertwined their fingers. Almost instantly eyes the color of the earth after a rainstorm flew open to lock on her. 

Natasha only smiled. “You know the price for your fingers, so pay up quickly, because our hosts are waiting for us to come down to dinner.” Her lips hid a smile, trying to repress the amusement licking at her chest at his surprise.

Cupid bow lips smoothed out from the deep frown, broad shoulders relaxing slightly. “I was just thinking about how much trouble you will be to control during the Yule ball.”

The amusement burned hotter, something closer to affection and she did everything not to let it foolishly show on her face. “Then I suppose you’ll have to keep me by your side for the night… I have been told I am an  _ excellent  _ dance partner.” She watched as the man’s face betrayed his surprise, saving the shocked look to the deep recess of her brain. Sliding off the sturdy desk, she brushed a single wild strand of chocolate hair away from his face, before starting out of the room. “Come on then! I thought I told you dinner’s ready!”

Natasha’s lips were pulled into a smug smile when Tom followed her into the dining room, calm and collected as ever. 

But that lasted until she saw who was sitting at the table.

Younger versions of Augustus Rookwood, Narcissa Black, Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. sat around the table conversing with Severus and Lucius easily.  

She froze in place. 

Natasha had done all she could to avoid all the people in the room (excluding Luc and Sev) during her time at Hogwarts, but now here they were right in front of her. 

A hand settled on her shoulder and she flinched away instinctively, realizing too late that it was just Tom. The man stilled, dark eyes holding a question. “Natasha?”

She could feel the table’s eyes on her, but as she backed away slowly she could feel her magic pulsing under her skin like it wanted so badly to lash out, to attack.  _ “Seb. We’re leaving.”  _ The whisper was quiet and as soon as she felt the snake tighten it’s coils, she was gone.

The Peverell manor was quiet, the death magic settling around her shoulders like a heavy blanket and she numbly passed the ball of string by the library doors, letting the labyrinth envelop her until she was standing in front of the small marble pedestal that was the heart of the library. 

An  _ empty _ pedestal. 

The worn leather notebook Sirius and Remus had made with Harry’s help during her second life (Death gave wonderful birthday presents) was gone and with a sinking feeling she realized she knew exactly where it was.

_ ‘ The Handbook to All Things Natasha _ _’_ was sitting beside Tom Marvolo Riddle’s bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOH Tom's not gonna be happy ^-^


	14. A Message From The Messenger To Be Messaged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes, let's just... *distracts myself from actually doing anything productive*

_ There was silence through the room, Abraxas standing up quickly, seeing the scowl forming on his lips. “Milord, she can’t have left the manor, what with the wards being-” _

_ With the clench of his fist, the man was cut off with a choking sound, and Tom was sure his eyes were blood red as he looked up at the fool. “I had simple instructions. You were to do nothing else but make sure she was happy!” He stalked forward slowly. “Now… did she look happy when she broke your wards and has left to hide herself behind death magic so strong even  _ **_I_ ** _ won’t be able to find her?!” _

_ The man shook his head quickly, turning red as his he gasped, trying to breathe. _

_ The rest of the table looked away, fear saturating the air. _

_ Letting the man go easily he closed his eyes and tried to reign in his temper. “No… She would disapprove of killing someone so  _ **_stupid_ ** _.” _

_ “Milord…” Lucius meekly stood up. “I- I think my father was only trying to bring together people he knew that could be trusted and who he thought she would get along with-... being a Slytherin herself and all.” _

_ He leveled a cold gaze on the teenager. “And tell me Lucius… Do you ever see her interact with any of the people at this table other than yourself and Severus?” _

_ The boy stilled in realization. _

_ Tom thought of the leather bound journal he’d been reading ever since he’d found it on a elegant pedestal in the Peverell library, recalling a simple words of advice that the messier of the two handwritings had penned into the very second page.  _

**_‘In order to be a good companion, remember this:_ **

**_Natasha has memories that do not fit what you know and has seen sides of people you will never see. Do not introduce her to situation where she has to be in close one-on-one contact with anyone before first making sure that person has not tried to kill her in a past life. She will act accordingly otherwise, most likely leaving you alone wondering what you did wrong.’_ **

_ He scowled deeply.  _

_ It was no good. He was sure if she had been his enemy in past lives that every person in this room (including him) had hurt her at one point or another, and in his irritation he had the strong urge to make them all suffer in the hopes it would bring her back.  _

_ But his violent thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice.  _

_ “Sorry for disappearing like that. I thought I would get something from the manor, in honor of Yule.”  _

_ Spinning around, his eyes greedily absorbed Natasha’s figure, hair pulled up off her shoulders and a smile on her lips that didn’t reach her emerald eyes. There was a tenseness to her frame and Sebastian looked to be on guard as he wound around her like an agitated scarf, but she was holding a cake as red as her hair that he suspected was part of her flimsy excuse for leaving so suddenly.  _

_ He felt that tight knot in his chest that had formed when she’d disappeared loosen and he put on a thin and slightly mirthful smile. “No need to apologize. I know your only wish in life is to cause unnecessary trouble, and if I must say, you’re trying your very hardest to give me wrinkles.” He put a hand on the small of her back- both to help ease her tense frame and remind himself that she was actually here, guiding her to the table and taking the strangely colored cake from her hands, putting it in the center of the table.  _

_ Natasha’s answering smile was less tense and more sarcastic. “Yeah, as  if your dumb face could ever get wrinkles- No I bet you use some type of magical botox to stay that...” She waved her hand at his face, “Un-wrinkled.” _

_ Severus snickered from beside her, the girl clearly referencing something of muggle origin, both Lucius and Severus used to her attitude towards him.  _

_ He noticed the stiff postures around the table, the others clearly wondering why he hadn’t cast a crucio at her for talking to him so freely. In fact, with a rush of pleasure, he realized that not once had Natasha referred to him with any type of title other than ‘Professor’ and she called him ‘Tom’ whenever talking to her snake. _

_ Rolling his eyes at her in a lapse of composure that half the table would never have the pleasure of seeing ever again, he sat down at the head of the table gracefully. “Well then, now that all of us-  _ _ including _ _ the insufferable demon to my side- are here…” _

_ Lord Malfoy stood at the cue, smile strained. “Yes of course! Let the feast commence!” _

_ House elves appeared to serve the food and the table watched as Natasha was treated like a princess, causing the girl to smile widely while directing the compliments back to the elves, praising them highly and leaving them looking a little more than starstruck.  _

_ When the house elves had left, eyes like emeralds drifted from him to the marks on Abraxas’ throat, a slight frown twisting soft red lips. “Lord Malfoy, may I take a look at those bruises? I find my healing spells have improved ever since a few of my Gryffindor friends started playing Quidditch…” _

_ The man glanced at Tom and with a slight inclination of his head, the man looked back to the girl. “I would appreciate that greatly, as I fear that my wife is the medically inclined one and she is out visiting her side of the family for a few days.” _

_ He scoffed under his breath- More like a few  _ _ weeks _ _. The female Malfoy was too weak to stand his presence. _

_ Standing gracefully from her chair, Natasha took to standing by the man’s side, something in her eyes flickering darkly for a brief second before her face smoothed into a blank mask of polite indifference. “This might tingle a bit.” Soft hands that he knew had strangely patterned calluses moved to press against the man’s throat, her voice whispering in a rough language that was nothing he recognized. _

_ With a gentle gold light, she pulled her hands back to reveal unblemished pale skin. _

_ He watched her sit back down, eating her food slowly. What a wonderful and fascinating girl he had the pleasure of entertaining... “What language was that in?” _

_ Her eyes met his, a flash of fond amusement racing across them quickly before it was gone. “It’s an old norse spell a friend taught me. It’ll heal just about anything, but it takes a significant amount of magic depending on what type of injury it is. Bruising is mild, whereas broken bones would have left me with a slight headache.” _

_ “And where did you learn old norse spells?” _

 

Natasha healed Abraxas easily, wishing she didn’t have to touch him even as she did, before retreating to her seat. It was easier than she expected to ignore the others in the room when they seemed to be terrified of inciting Tom’s wrath.

Memories of Loki met her when Tom asked about the ancient language, remembering the god spending days teaching her how to pronounce the garbled words, and the man raised an eyebrow at her curiously. “And where did you learn old norse spells?” 

Like a summoning spell, a familiar weight draped over the back of her chair, resting against her shoulders. “I believe the saying Clint uses is ‘speak his name and the God of Mischief will appear’?”

Natasha jumped from her chair, throwing herself into the man’s arms before anyone could think of pulling their wands. “Loki! I though for sure you wouldn’t show up for a while longer!”

The man caught her easily, sea green eyes sparkling as he lifted her to his waist like she was a small child- which she guessed for her body’s age she  _ was  _ in comparison to the god. “How could I resist seeing my favorite redhead? I see fate’s given you the short end of the stick again, but then again you are adorable, being so small and cherub-like.”

“Curl up and die, asshole.” She punched him in the shoulder. “If you came here just to piss me off I’d be more than happy to give you a good fight, but if not, then you better have good news.”

The man dropped her to the floor _(_ _ which was rude and unexpected- even if she did land on her fee t _ _)_ , his smile vicious. “Oh? Was that a threat?”

In a second there were two of the man. She flipped back easily, summoning her silver gun and sending a severing charm though the illusion. “Darling, I don’t threaten family.... Plus, you know i’d kill you in a second if it would give me even an ounce of pleasure.” She dissolved the gun. “But I think you have some other motive for being here other than getting beaten in a fight.”

The man’s lips curved up into a grin, but it was weak, and his voice was cautiously soft. “I came to tell you that the other champion and I have decided not to go another repeat... That Thanos will stay beaten, the Avengers will die for good, and I will join my ancestors up in the stars.”

Natasha felt herself freeze up, stomach sinking. “I... I think that that’s a rash decision. He knows better, doesn’t he? He’ll change his mind.” Her voice sounded like the lost child she probably looked like at the moment.

Loki knelt before her, hand coming up to her cheek. “Look at how weak you’ve become, missing all those that have you left behind. What happened to the cold-hearted assassin that once stopped me from destroying the world?”

Her teeth ground together even as her hand reached up to wrap around his. “She’s still here. Under all the magic and  _ feelings _ , I could still kill you and not shed a single tear.” 

“Prove it to me then and  _ do it _ .” The man pulled from her then, standing and straightening his coat. 

With a wave of anger, she felt her magic break though the fate magic controlling her form, and she stood tall as the real Natasha Romanoff with eyes burning like forest fires. “Do not speak so callously to me, Laufeyson. Remember who I am and what you promised you’d never do to me.”

The man looked her over with a fond smile. “There you are. There’s the Red Queen I know… Yes I said I would never leave you again, but when he closes the connection I will have never known about you, hence never having made that promise… Just two more trips Natalia. Use them wisely.” His eyes looked around the room and a flicker of disgust crossed his features. “And pick better company next time darling.”

With a green light, the man was gone.

Cursing softly in Russian, she rubbed at her temples, collecting her magic and containing it once more. Feeling her skin tingle from Fate's magic settling back over her and de-aging her body, she didn’t dare look in the direction of the table. “Excuse me, I believe I’m going to retire for the night.”

Stalking to the only bedroom she knew she was allowed in (ignoring the fact it was Tom’s room), she curled up in an armchair, starting the fire with a flick of her fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So maybe this is the last time around...  
> Who knows?


	15. By The Light Of The Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I love this story so much? Nobody knows. But i'mma keep posting it *shrugs*

With a soft knock on the door, the not-so Dark Lord walked in holding two plates of food not even ten minutes of her strategic retreat from the dining room. “Can’t have you not eating, can we?” Setting down the plate the man sunk into the armchair across from her. “Was that man… a close friend of yours?”

Glancing up, she shook her head, moving the plate of food to her lap and pushing around the green beans. “More like a weird cousin that visits sometimes and has a detailed knowledge of every one of my pet peeves.”

Tom chuckled lowly. 

She sent him a glare. “Shut up you. I know every one of  _ your _ pet peeves, so don’t test me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t  _ dare _ .” His voice was like velvet and she suppressed a shiver. “I have no intention of seeing you anything but content, even if it means breaking a few of those moral guidelines you like to keep so close to your heart.”

Natasha tilted her head. “Was that what happened to Abraxas?”

Tom’s lips pulled into a sneer. “ _ Abraxas _ was getting on my nerves. And either way, I saw the way you looked sad to have to heal him… What did he do to you?”

She watched him for a long moment. “If I talk about my last life, you have to promise not to seek retribution for anything I say, nor can you talk to anyone about it other than me.”

“I swear it.”

Looking back at the fire, she held out her hand, a small figure of young Tom Riddle made of light appearing before she extinguished it with a sigh. “He- the other version of you-... was always very possessive. Always wanting only the best things to add to his collection of shiny gems, and I-... As you can imagine, he found me  _ fascinating. _ But I held out hope that with a few pushes in the right direction he could grow out of his need for bloodshed and in a moment of weakness hoping that he would see past the violence, I bound myself to him under the conditions that he wouldn’t hurt anyone else with any part of him.” She swallowed back the bitter taste in her throat. “But he had a loophole. He could hurt me as much as he wanted.”

There was nothing but tense silence from the man across from her.

“There were days he was the kindest most gentle of lovers and it would remind me why I had made the vow to begin with, but the rest of the time he made it his mission to find out just how  _ interesting _ I could be. He satisfied his bloodlust by seeing how many times he could kill me, finding more and more ways to prolong my suffering. He even had a few of his followers learn healing magic just so I would stay alive longer… Abraxas-” She laughed bitterly, fingers curling tightly into a ball. “Well, most of  _ his  _ followers to be honest, they all found that while he was out leading raids or terrifying the Wizarding World, they could take  _ liberties _ without any type of repercussion.”

This elicited a hiss from the man and she glanced over to see his eyes bleed into a vivid red color. 

Looking away quickly, she gave a soft shrug. “It wasn’t long before I was free, due to his unfaltering bloodlust, so I built a family behind my death magic wards and tried to forget. But the men that I married were killed by his hands, so when he went to attack a family I knew… I killed him, and proceeded to raise my adopted son with Severus’ help. Clinton graduated top of his class and I decided to go back again, promising myself I wouldn’t get caught up in his- in  _ your  _ charm again.”

Emerald eyes met rust-colored ones, neither speaking in the warm glow of the fire.

As if catching the way Natasha didn’t much feel like being alone, Tom matched her in folding his legs up onto the chair, and it would be laughable if the grace that he moved with didn’t burn at her insides.  Pulling his own plate to his lap, he looked down and started cutting up his steak, only looking back at her when he went to take a bite of the tender meat. “You’re welcome to stay here with me if you’d feel more comfortable. I fear that if one of the people in this manor decided to act against my wishes at the moment I would have no control over what curse I casted.”

“Then having me stay here would probably be best for everyone.” She moved to eat the food on her own plate slowly, lips fighting a smile of slow amusement. “Don’t want to make you unnecessarily stressed, would we?”

The corners of the man’s lips curled upwards. “How kind, coming from the person that causes me most of that stress.”

 

_ Tom found himself watching, transfixed, with the girl in front of him. _

_ He’d been irritated at the man that had shown up out of the blue, being so casually tactile with Natasha, but he found it worth it with the sight she had made- Wide green eyes burning as she stood tall, her lithe figure clad in tight black material, with curves that made his heart stutter in his chest...  _

_ Yes, she was everything he had imagined the Herald of Death would be. _

_ And now curled up in the large armchair while slowly eating the food he’d brought without even casting a diagnostic charm, trusting implicitly in him, he wondered how he had been so blind in his previous lives to hurt such a magnificent being so carelessly. _

_ Having finished his food, plate set off to the side, he watched her closely from where his chin was propped up by his thin fingers. _

_ Emerald eyes flicked to him, the light of the fire making them gleam beautifully. “What’s with that look? Is there something on my face?” Her voice was level, not actually worried about the question, as if just to provoke him into speaking. _

_ “I was just wondering how long it took the deity that made you to carve your eyes from emeralds, because from what I've heard, it’s a particularly tricky stone to work with.” Tom relished the way those vibrant eyes widened slightly with the echo of surprise that evaded her occlumency walls. He let himself flash her a grin. “If you want to take the bed for the night, I am more than fine with staying here, as I seem to have more paperwork than I would like.” _

_ Of course he’d like nothing more than to wrap himself around her shorter frame and soak up all her warmth, but as the day had gone less than satisfactory, he was resigning himself to allowing her space.  _

_ The knowledge alone of having her so close would ease that knot in his chest for as long as the girl needed to see that he was  _ _ vastly _ _ different from the monster she’d been hurt by in the past. _

_ Natasha watched him for a long moment, before shrugging gracefully and setting aside her plate. “I don’t mind. I have no intention to kick you out of your own bed, and either way, I  _ _ have _ _ grown to sleep better with someone at my side.” Padding silently away, she grabbed a few items of clothing from her canvas bag and made her way to the bathroom. _

_ He couldn’t stop the smile from breaking his impassive mask, voice teasing, finding he couldn’t help but push his luck. “Is little Natasha afraid of the dark?” _

_ A second later the girl stalked out in, clothed in loose sleep pants and a large muggle shirt, sending him a withering glare as she slid into his bed. “Do be quiet, or I might end up sending a curse your way.” _

_ Tom stood up, moving over to the chest of drawers and pulling out a pair of sleep pants, content with leaving all his accursed paperwork to sit on his desk a little longer. “So  _ **_violent_ ** _.” _

_ The hiss was soft, the accented parseltongue making a shiver run down his spine.  _ “Be quiet Tom.”

_ He chuckled. “As you wish.”  _

_ Changing and brushing his teeth, he found the fireplace had been extinguished and the only light was a ball of fire floating over a delicate hand.  _

_ The dancing light caught the amusement in her eyes when he strolled out of the room in his sleep clothes, Natasha humming softly. “If I had know that you looked this stupidly handsome, I would have forcibly made you reconsider your mistakes much earlier than these last two lives.” Waiting until he was at the edge of the bed, the girl put out the fire. “Goodnight Thomas.” _

_ The moon was the only light left in the room, shining through the window as he laid back in the large bed, not daring to move from his spot as he lost himself in his thoughts. Used to only a few hours of sleep, he instead listened to the soft breathing beside him, his heart lurching in his chest when a smaller hand found his and gripped onto it tightly.  _

_ Only the moon saw the unbearable fond smile that graced his lips. “Goodnight Natasha.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch me out here, perpetually screaming (.^.)


	16. If Cinderella Was A Former Assassin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thoroughly enjoy making Tom worry. It's quite fun.

Natasha found herself slowly waking as the sun rose to tickle her skin with it's soft beams. 

Out of instinct she kept herself still, eyes closed, cataloging her surroundings. The warm blanket draped over her, the cool morning air getting inhaled into her lungs, the subtle smell of spice that was unmistakably Tom, the hot line of skin pressed to her back and the warmth coming from the heavy arm thrown around her-  Wait.

_ What _ ?

Slowly blinking her eyes open, she analyzed Tom's breathing pattern, and upon finding he was unmistakably asleep she levitated his arm just enough to slide out of the bed and put her pillow where she had been laying.

Standing on the cold stone floor, she watched the man curl tighter around the pillow, his expression void of the impassive mask he wore most all of the time.

Natasha knew every tick, twinge, and response of her body. That was her job after all, and how could she play Fate's warrior if she didn't know how she'd respond to ever possible outcome?... So it wasn't all that surprising when she went back over her feelings for the man with the tousled chocolate hair. 

She’d known for a while now, just hadn't wanted to accept it.

But now standing over him in the early morning sunlight as he slept, face perfectly serene, she cursed herself for being so weak to the man's charms. Sure, she was over three hundred years old and the champion of two deities, but what did that do for her if she had to kill this man and  _ paused _ ? 

Deciding to take her existential crisis outside so Tom didn't wake to her staring at him, she quickly wrote a note and stuck it to said pillow, hoping it lessened his panic/rage/murderous tendencies at finding her not in sight.

_ Got a bit warm. _

_ Went to lay in the snow. _

_ -N _

All dramatic thoughts aside of throwing herself off a cliff in mortification, Natasha was still burning from the inside out at this startling conclusion, and went to (very honestly) lay in the snow outside the back porch.

This was where Severus found her only a few minutes after she had laid back in the freezing snowbank, and the boy just sat down as close to her as he could without crossing the heating charms of the porch, eyes amused. “Having fun?”

She tilted up her head to look at him with narrowed eyes. “Come to stop me?”

When the boy shook his head she relaxed back into where she was slowly melting away an imprint, sinking into the snowbank slowly. “If you start to get frostbite or hypothermia I might try to talk you into coming inside… but you seem to have a reason for your actions, no matter how strange.”

Natasha hummed.

“...Is it the same reason that you didn't come find the guest bedroom you were supposed to stay in?”

She sighed. “Imagine liking someone and you know that you shouldn't deep down, but when you try to think of reasons why to plausibly deny yourself that feeling of happiness when you see them, you can't find any.”

The scoff Severus gave was soft. “He's twice your age.”

Natasha hated how easy it was to dismiss that. “Immortality. You saw that for yourself. I'm only stuck in this body until I complete a certain task. Plus, technically i’m twice  _ his  _ age.”

The boy hummed. “His morals are skewed?”

“He vowed to never harm me though. You told me this yourself.”

That made the boy pause, before, “What about his...  _ occupation _ ? How well do you actually know him?”

She sat up, looking at the boy with a raised eyebrow as she folded her legs. “What about him? His involvement with politics, his persona as a Dark Lord…. or how he’s always wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?”

Severus looked amused at this new piece of information. “So that's why he was so excited to go to Hogwarts…” The boy shrugged. “I don't know what to say. What about his habits? Any things you really dislike about him?”

Natasha thought about this for a long moment. “Nothing that stands out, other than his lack of trust in my being alone for too long…”

The boy opened his mouth to say something, but the door to the porch was thrown open before he could. Tom stepped out, frowning when he looked at where she was sitting calmly in a Natasha-sized indentation. “Why is your immediate thought when  _ ‘a bit warm’ _ to sit in a snowbank? You're going to catch a cold. Come inside immediately!”

Groaning, she climbed out of the snow with Severus' help, voice a whisper. “See what I mean?”

The boy just chuckled, moving to throw his coat around her shoulders, whispering back to her. “He's just worried. I've never seen him act like this before.”

“Are you two quite done with the secrets?” The man in question had his arms crossed, glowering at them.

Laughing softly, she stopped by where Tom was standing stiffly in the door frame, pulling him down by his shirt slightly so she could press a quick kiss to his cheek. She grinned when eyes the color of sunlight shining through whiskey blinked at her, surprised. “Good morning.” Then without a word, she pulled the warm coat tighter around her dripping frame and went to go change into dry clothes.

 

Malfoy Manor was in the midst of decorating, Tom being pulled away by ‘business’, so she convinced Abraxas to let Severus and her leave the house to meet up with Lily Evans and the marauders in The Leaky Cauldron. 

After writing out a note that stated where she was going, who with, and not to hurt Abraxas for letting her go (at said man's request), she flooed away before Tom could find out her plan and lock her in a room or something ridiculous like that.

The marauders were a little uncomfortable with Severus tagging along, but after she locked arms with the potions prodigy and Sirius for a while, they relaxed into casual teasing. Lily and Remus helped her with picking out a dress for the Yule ball after Sev had casually dropped a hint about her going, and no one seemed to notice when she pulled the tailor aside to slip them a design she wanted to get with different measurements. 

Other than the way that Severus and James seemed to forget they were supposed to be enemies instead of teasing each other like actual classmates and with the way everyone seemed to ignore Peter Pettigrew, she found herself having a marvelous time.

Natasha treated the group to ice cream, captivating them with her tales of someone (that was most definitely  _ not _ her) who had traveled the world learning about the different magical communities.

After picking up their clothing, they were all reluctantly said their goodbyes, and she took Severus to her manor so they could get ready for the ball together.

The boy turned a bright red when she asked him to zip her dress up, eyes fixed on the far wall as he did, but when she was properly dressed he looked back and proceeded to gape like a fish. “You can't go to the ball that! If the Dark Lord sees you with me like this he'll kill me for sure!”

She smiled, moving to the mirror so she could do her makeup. “Don't be silly. I'll get us past the wards easily and then we can enter the ball at different times. Plus,” Her grin was wide and sharp. “I think he will be a little too distracted to kill you.”

Severus waved his hand. “Where- How- That's not the dress Lily and Remus chose for you!”

“How observant.” Her eyes flicked to his in the reflection of the big mirror. “Did you really expect me to go to a ball full of slimy politicians and people looking to exploit me without at least wearing my battle armor?”

The dark-haired boy's voice was quiet as he fiddled with the cufflinks she'd bought him earlier. “How is  _ that _ battle armor?”

With a sly grin, she hefted the material of dress a little to show off where three knives were snugly tucked in the elastic of a specialized garter belt. “These beauties are my favorite, not mentioning the fact I can summon my guns in less than a second or how my hairpins are wickedly sharp- in case I run out of knives of course.” 

"...Of course..." The boy repeated quietly, eyes wide and face astonished.

Holding out her arm, she checked her watch. “We should go. I guarantee if we stay any later than we already have, Thomas will have an aneurysm.”

“If he hasn't already...” Severus muttered, taking her arm, and with a sucking feeling they were standing around the corner from the side stairs down to the ballroom. "Not to mention Lucius is probably worrying about us and Mr. Malfoy is most likely lying dead in a shallow grave..."

Natasha laughed, pushing him forward. “Go on and placate Lucius’ need to fuss over us. I'll be there a minute... You'll know when I'm entering.”

With only a look of reluctance to leave her here, the boy nodded and strode off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Up: How To Give Your Dark Lord Grey Hairs In Ten Easy Steps!


	17. Ballgowns and High Heels and Dark Lords- Oh My!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stan a good ballroom scene....

_ Tom Marvolo Riddle liked to think he was a patient man, but as many of his inner circle knew all too well, that was just a facade. _

_ So when he had gotten tired of writing out formal letters to politicians he'd rather set on fire than shake hands with, finding himself a second away from throwing his inkwell at the wall, he decided to find Natasha.  _

_ She had a talent for being able to calm the raging forest fire inside him, something about her smooth voice or maybe the warm smell of chocolate and roses she always exuded... at this point it was madness to try to question what about the redhead eased his impulse to burn every paper on his desk and kill everyone in sight- right now he just wanted to see her. _

_ Stopping at his room, he glanced around. Sebastian was sleeping curled up on one of the smooth leather armchairs, but the snake was less likely to talk about his mistress without her around, so he left to ask Lord Malfoy about finding the evasive redhead.  _

_ This  _ _ was _ _ the man’s house after all. _

_ Abraxas Malfoy turned from ordering around a decorator, and he paled significantly when he caught sight of Tom stalking over. _

_ Licking his lips slowly and trying to ignore the pit in his stomach that had opened up as soon as he'd seen the fear on the man's face, he smiled thinly even as he felt his eyes bleeding into more of a deep red color. “Abraxas, my dear friend… you wouldn't happen to know where my lovely companion is? I can't seem to find her in the manor, but that must be a mistake…  _ **_right_ ** _?” _

_ Hands shaking, the man pulled out a parchment, before sinking to a knee. “You said to keep her happy Milord... I- I thought you knew…” _

_ With a snarl escaping his lips, he ripped the paper from the man’s hands, unrolling it quickly. _

 

**_Thomas, my dearest darling Dark Lord,_ **

**_I know that you’re probably about to crucio the living daylights out of Mr. Malfoy, but please don’t be rash and read through this whole letter._ **

**_I am headed to Diagon Alley with Lily Evans, Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew (blegh), and of course Severus Snapey-snape._ **

**_(Stop scowling, I can feel it though the paper.)_ **

**_No, you are not allowed to come barging in on my day out with my friends, have someone tail me, do anything that would invade my privacy- or I swear to Merlin i’ll send my army of house elves after your ass._ ** **_They_ ** **_do_ ** **_love me so very much._ **

**_So sit back and try to relax for a few hours without me._ **

**_Don’t get all huffy, I’ll be sure to make a spectacular entrance to the Yule ball, and of course, keep my promise to be the best dancing partner you’ve ever had._ **

**_I left some hand-made apple pastries in the kitchen for the ball, but I don’t think any of the house elves would mind if you snuck a few, as you and I are the only ones who can touch them without getting a nasty shock._ **

**_Don’t hurt anyone I like too much (that includes the_ ** **_whole_ ** **_Malfoy family for the moment), and try to stop frowning so much or that handsome face will get wrinkles._ **

**_See you soon!_ **

**_-Natasha_ **

 

_ Tom wondered in the back of his brain if the men that had wrote the journal appropriately named  _ ‘The Handbook to All Things Natasha’  _ had gone through the same feeling of irritation, panic, and fondness that was choking him right now- but remembering the section of messy writing that described the woman leaving to go horcrux hunting and coming back half-dead... He knew they had. _

_ With a icy glare at Abraxas, he took a deep breath to temper his burning anger. “I want nothing more than to slowly strip the flesh off ever part of you slowly as you scream, but... it seems that my little redhead has taken a liking to you.” He scowled down at the man who looked close to crying in relief. “Now get up and stop blubbering. It’s pathetic.” _

_ Almost at the doors, he caught sight of Lucius Malfoy and changed his course, looming over where the boy was dictating food arrangements. The boy glanced up, swallowing his tongue in surprise at the red eyes directed at him. “M-Milord!” _

_ “Youngest of my least favorite family...” His voice was cool, evoking a flinch from the boy. “Did you willfully help Natasha concoct this  _ _ foolishness _ _?” _

_ The boy looked to be stealing himself, and like some naive Gryffindor, the boy straightened his back and met his eyes head on. “Milord, Natasha is not one of your followers who will blindly follow your every word, nor is she a pretty creature to be contained. I have no intention of ever betraying your trust otherwise Milord, but for her? I would in an instant.” _

_ Tom stood there for a long moment just to watch the boy squirm, before a small chuckle broke his lips, the boy stepping back in surprise. “Remind me to show this memory to Natasha. She will find it quite sweet, as she seems to have a weak spot for you two idiots she hangs around.” Reminding himself how upset his darling girl would be if he hurt the boy in front of him, he smiled thinly. “I don’t think you answered my question, but I get the picture. That damn troublemaker seems to have quite the silver tongue on her, and I assume she convinced you this would be a good idea?” _

_ The blonde boy flushed red. _

_ Clicking his tongue, he shook his head as he turned to go back to the piles of paperwork that he’d surely set on fire at this rate, muttering tauntingly under his breath. “How you will be the death of me my dear, how you will be the death of me....”  _

 

_ Two hours later and the ball was in full swing, more than half the guests already milling around, but there was no sign of Natasha. _

_ Watching the room easily from a hidden corner he’d taken to brooding in, not much feeling like talking to anyone at the moment, he sipped a glass of wine and watched mirthfully as Abraxas got more and more nervous the longer the redhead didn’t show. He bet that it also had something to do with the fact the man knew he was being watched but couldn’t see him, but it was amusing nonetheless. _

_ Another thirty minutes passed, most of the guests having arrived, and he was about to leave to tear Diagon Alley apart brick by brick to find her- when a silence settled over the crowd. _

_ Looking up, he found himself almost dropping his goblet in surprise. _

_ There at the top of the side stairs, was Natasha, but she wasn’t the girl he knew. No, this was the woman he’d seen just a flash of when she’d been ready to kill that man the other day. This was the true form of the Master of Death. _

_ A long red dress hugged her hourglass figure, the silky fabric flowing as she glided down the stairs, every other step exposing the smooth golden skin of long legs and shoes that wound around her calves with silken straps.  _

_ He swallowed, trying to get some of his broken composure back, before stepping from his corner of privacy wards. _

_ As soon as he was across that barrier, green eyes that seemed to glow in the bright light of the ballroom fixed on him and a small smile curved red lips. The crowd parted for her as she sashayed over to him like it was the easiest thing in the word, her long hair tied back in an artfully messy bun that had strands framing her face elegantly, and she stopped in front of him to tilt her head to the side playfully. “Hello darling. Miss me?” _

_ Releasing a soft chiding huff, he put a hand on her lower back to guide her gently to his side, but almost tripped over his own feet when his hand met warm bare skin.  _

_ With a laugh that seemed to send a shiver through the whole room, she grabbed his other hand and twirled slowly as if to show herself off. “I saw this and thought you’d like it.” _

_ Sure that the woman was going to kill him before the night was out, he pushed down the all-consuming heat eating at him, moving to draw her to his side, voice low. “Ready to meet the wolves?” At her sharp grin, they smoothly entered the crowd that was pulsing with the want to dissect the woman at his side and see what made her tick. _

_ Though in hindsight, he shouldn’t have been worried, because if she was convincing normally, she was  _ _ deadly _ _ now.  _

_ A basilisk in a group of blind rodents. _

_ No one saw her amused glances to him when the crowd would try to get a rise out of her and for almost an hour they were accosted by everyone who was anyone in high society, both quick to charm the crowd with their smooth talking.   _

_ Eventually the crowd got tired of trying to pick away at the impenetrable wall that was Natasha’s flawless charm, instead the woman took to eyeing her jealousy from the side of the room and the men approached Tom to try to draw her attention by essentially bragging about themselves, but to his immense pleasure the woman just sipped at her wine gracefully and traced patterns on his arm (he was too proud to shiver in front of the gathered crowd but he was definitely distracted by the blood red nails dragging over his suit jacket).  _

_ Although the mask of the elegant companion never once slipped from her face, he could tell she was painfully bored. _

_ Just as another of the long list of men he was half entertaining the thought of finding and torturing later approached to boot out the man currently talking to him about how he owned his own private island, Lucius Malfoy moved over quickly and bowed to Natasha. “Lady Peverell, may I have this dance?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay but like- they're such a power couple I want to scream :) It's gooooood ^-^


	18. Dancing With The Devil And The God of Mischief In The Same Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay so this is up early (late?)  
> I need sleep...

Natasha was about to get out her knives and start cleaning her nails out of boredom- perhaps even stabbing one of these pompous assholes trying to get her attention- when Lucius approached her and sunk into a low bow. The boy’s eyes gleamed and she could see the hidden smile on his lips as he spoke. “Lady Peverell, may I have this dance?”

Feeling the warm hand that had been settled gently around her waist since she’d arrived tighten, she sent a teasing smirk to Tom, before looking back to the blonde boy. “I would very much like that, Heir Malfoy.”

Noticing the way Tom’s jaw clenched as he let her go reluctantly, she moved to Lucius’ side, letting him guide her out onto the dance floor. The boy looked amused. “Figured I would save you the trouble of getting hit on, and if anyone tries to interrupt, Severus is more than happy to have a dance.”

“My heroes.” Smiling, she winked at the boy as he spun her out and they started into a smooth waltz. “So... how mad did Thomas get about me leaving?”

The boy gave her a flat look. “He almost made my father cry.”

This made her burst into a peal of laughter, ignoring the boy’s half-hearted glare. “Oh I wish I was here to see that! It would have been priceless.”

“I don’t think that my father would agree with you on that… but you might be right.”

They grinned at each other, Severus stepping forward hastily the next second, beating a old man with greedy eyes to cutting in and sweeping her away. 

The dark-haired potions prodigy looked amused. “It went just as you said. Never let it be said I have ever seen a ballroom of sharks be quite so shocked as they were when you entered.”

“I do my best to please.” With a smile, she let herself be spun around easily. 

The boy hummed. “You’re short for an adult. Even with those abominations you call shoes on, you’re still only the average height of most everyone here.”

With a gasp of mock outrage, she clicked her tongue before smiling. “You wound me Sev. I’m not short- you’re just freakishly tall.”

They danced for a few more minutes, throwing friendly jabs at each other that neither of them really meant, before she spotted three men starting forward to try to dance with her, but luckily she was stolen away by a messy-haired Sirius Black. 

“I see we’re playing keep away, so I decided to join in.” The boy looked her up and down with a wide grin. “Looking good Tasha.”

With a vicious grin, she spun them around, taking the lead aggressively and twirling the boy out, earning her a barking laugh. “Be careful with those eyes, you  _ dog _ . I  _ am  _ here with someone.”

The boy spun himself back in, taking the back seat in dancing to her lead easily and without protest. “Right. The professor… How’s that? I always thought it would be fun to hook up with one of my hot teach-”

“Mr. Black.” The boy was cut off mid sentence by Tom’s looming presence, the man’s dark eyes glittering with the promise of violence. “Thank you for keeping my companion company, but may I assume you have other places to be?”

Nodding hurriedly, the boy moved quickly out of the way.

Warm hands wrapped around her waist and hand, the taller man matching her gliding steps effortlessly as he pulled her closer than appropriate for dancing with someone other than a romantic partner, as if to tell the crowd watching them to back off. Though the murderous look he sent a brave man who started to approach got the message across just as well.

Laughing breathlessly as he dipped her lowly, she beamed at him when she was drawn back up. “I heard you almost made Malfoy Sr. cry.” Chuckling at the flash of regret that passed though the dark brown eyes, she squeezed where her hand was resting on his broad shoulder. “Did you try the apple pastries… or just decide to set your office on fire?”

“I didn’t set anything on fire. How little you think of me.” The man’s slight pout had her thinking that the man had surely thought about it though. “I was simply worried you’d get kidnapped by someone, get lost in Knockturn Alley, or something of that sort.”

Natasha looked up at the man with a teasing smile. “Well, I ’m still impressed. A whole six hours of not having me by your side and you managed to function like an actual human being.”

The man sneered, but it was lacking any heat. “Be quiet you.”

They proceeded to dance through the night, only stopping to make detours to try Natasha’s apple pasties or the red velvet cake (that she’d made the other day and found Tom had refused to let anyone touch after she’d left the dinner in a rush). The man was always quick to sweep her back onto the dance floor when she toed the line of irritation because of the men that approached her, smiling viciously as he did (and she made a note to ask him about that later).

The later it got, the more guests politely excused themselves, until just a few people she recognized as Tom’s followers were left.

Severus made his way over casually. “I thought for sure you’d have stabbed at least one of those politicians with those knives of yours, but it seems my bet with Lucius was unfounded.”

Ignoring Tom’s raised eyebrow, she hefted up her dress to pull out one of her knives, studying it with a sigh. “I really was hoping to use these. This lifetime’s been so peaceful without the wars or giant spiders…” Slipping the knife back in it’s holster, she pulled out her hair pins carefully and shook her head to let her hair unfurl from it’s up-do. “What a shame.”

“I say that’s an accomplishment. Heaven knows that the other one can’t go a day without causing some type of trouble or getting himself into the human issues that pop up.” Spinning around, she watched as Loki smoothly caught the hairpin aimed at his face, grinning slowly. “Hey there Romanoff. I haven’t seen you all dressed up since the Triwizard tournament…”

The man was dressed in a black suit and she looked him over appreciatively as she stalked forward. “I see you came from a nice event yourself.” She tugged at his tie, grinning widely. “Did you dress up for me? Or was this a play to get your boyfriend to be rough with you, like I know you secretly like?” 

With a slight pink tint to his cheeks, Loki pulled the tie from her grasp, smoothing his outfit out. “I forgot how _quick_ that tongue of your is.”

“And yet, you are here and not in your lover’s bed… did something happen? Were you not supposed to tell me you were going to take my loved ones from me?” Her eyes were narrowed.

The man didn’t flinch, but it was close to it. “Can we not dance without fighting? Is this what we’ve come to, you and I, tearing apart each other just to taste blood?” He caught her waist roughly, pulling her in as his hand captured hers. “Are we so lonely in our boredom that we choose to travel universes just for a good fight?”

Her voice was cold as they started into an fast paced waltz without even thinking about it. “Well, I know you didn’t come here to sleep with me, as i’m not your type. So what else do you visit for? Surely not the dancing, I have it on the highest authority that he’s a marvelous dancer.”

“And what authority is that?”

Natasha grinned. “My own. So pick your poison. Is it a fight you want? Or some pain? Causing or taking, either’s on the table. You know us immortals get a little tired of routine.”

Loki’s eyes met hers for only a second before he was glancing away again. “So what’s it like sharing a bed with the man you spent your last three lives hating?”

“Good, thank you...” She let her eyes widen. “Don’t tell me- You’re here because you’re afraid, aren’t you?”

The man wouldn’t meet her eyes.

Swallowing a grin at the irony, she instead smiled softly. “Oh, darling… You should know better than to be afraid of Death. She might look scary and imposing, but I’m sure she’ll be gentle with you. You are one of her favorites after all.” Loki shrugged noncommittally, but she could see the lines of his shoulders smooth out, and she stopped their dance to pull him close. “Just think how you’ll get to see all of us again when it is your time. On my own authority, I promise, Paradise really is beautiful.”

“He won’t be there.”

Natasha’s smile was sad, brushing the long hair from Loki’s eyes. “Then why are you here, wasting one of your trips to dance with me and sulk when you could be getting it good from your lover and enjoying your time together?” Her scoff was short. “Loki, you have ten times what I’ll ever have with whoever I chose to love. Don’t make me hurt you for not appreciating your time with him.”

Pulling away, the god looked around the room, eyes finally landing on Tom. “You better not hurt her or I swear on Lady Magic that I’ll hunt you down to whatever corner of the universe you hide yourself in and show you all the horrors of Asgardian death magic.” 

“Loki, I can handle myself.”

Turning back to ruffle her hair, he shrugged lazily. “Your seer isn’t born yet and all your potential guardians are either people who’ve killed you before or are too busy being dumb teenagers. So don’t mind if I worry.”

She grabbed his hand. “You could stay? We both know he wouldn’t mind losing you for a few days if it was too keep me company...”

Loki seemed to consider it for a long moment, before shaking his head. “I’ll bargain with your aunt for an extra trip so I can visit properly, considering the circumstances, but I have to get back. It  _ was  _ just Laura and Clint’s wedding after all.” The man pulled his hand from hers gently, proceeding to disappear in a flash of green light.

Staring at the empty space, she shook her head and spun on her heal. “Well then, that was depressing.”

Tom held out his hand. “Shall we?”

With nods to Lucius and Severus, she took the warm hand. “Only if you are okay with sharing a drink with me.”

“Of course darling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch me out here, screeching about how cute these two are ^-^


	19. You Haven't Forgotten Your Mission... Have You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmmm...  
> Y'know what this story needs atm? Angst. :P

The rest of the break passed slowly without much more excitement. 

Natasha and Tom naturally seemed to gravitate around each other, one usually coming to find the other when separated. She would find him if he was too absorbed in a book or his paperwork and she was restless, and he would sometimes show up to watch her if she was training with the boys or playing with the unicorn herd she’d found in the nearby forest.

But before long it was time for her to go back to the Manor for a few days before heading to Hogwarts, and with the promise to see Tom in detention, she found herself once more alone in the big Peverell Manor.

Natasha spent the few days trying to ease her discomfort at being alone by diving into the task of finding a ritual to find dark objects, like horcruxes. Finding a fairly straightforward one in the very back of the library, she started go get together the needed materials. Knowledge of the person’s full given name, a good amount of blood, precise concentration, and a magic-infused crystal.

It had taken her a whole day of rest, but she’d charged a quartz crystal the size of her hand with magic and collected half a gallon of blood slowly thought the day. Setting up the strongest ward circles and containment spells she knew, she dipped her hand holding the pulsing crystal into a small bowl of the slick marron liquid.

Immediately her mind felt as if it was separated from her body, floating in a translucent haze.

There was a rush of sensations all at once, like a sensory slideshow, and she tried to sort out what she was feeling from who she presumed was Dumbledore.

~

_ Fear at Voldemort’s rise.  _

_ Determination to fix the issue he’d created and greed at the power that would come with defeating another Dark Lord.  _

_ Twisted fascination at the thought of the rumors of Tom having created horcruxes.  _

_ Desire for the power of immortality, covered up with the excuse to himself that he’d have to live long enough to find a way to kill Voldemort.  _

_ A glittering heart locket hung around a young girl’s delicate throat. _

_ Surprise at hearing the prophecy.  _

_ Apprehension at seeing the girl of the prophecy, combined with awe and fear at the power she possessed.  _

_ The overwhelming need to control the girl of the prophecy.  _

_ The urge to create another horcrux, in case worst came to worst. _

_ A phoenix's cry of pain and sorrow. _

~

Natasha gasped, eyes flying open as the connection broke. Stumbling back from the ritual platform, she blinked away tears that she didn’t know she was crying, voice horrified. “No… Not Fawkes…”

 She found herself cleaning up the ritual blindly, startling when an elf popped up beside her. “Missis Natashy bes late for the Hogywart train if she keep cleaning, so I cleans. Missis needs to get to train.” Nodding numbly, she changed her robes and grabbed her trunk, wishing the elves goodbye before taking the floo to Kings Cross.

 It was hard not to get lost in her thoughts, brain still spinning at the thought of her close friend from her second life being so corrupt in this one.

“Natasha?” 

A light hand on her shoulder broke her from the dark thoughts, looking up to see the marauders and her two Slytherin friends crowded in the compartment with concern on their faces. She gave them a weak half-smile. “Hey. Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts.”

 The group settled as best they could in the space, talking about everything from Quidditch to the ball that only Remus and Peter weren’t at, and they didn’t comment when she went back to watching the scenery pass.

The two Slytherin boys had to wake her up when they got to the platform and she moved to the carriages without petting the thestrals. 

Lucius raised an eyebrow as soon as they were alone. “Okay, what’s up with you? You’re acting like someone died.” His eyes widened. “Did someone die?”

She thought about the horcruxes, mood darkening even more as she realized that Dumbledore had to have killed someone to make them. “Someone I used to hold in the highest regard has proven themselves to be nothing but a stain on society in this world.” 

The two looked taken-aback at her viciousness, choosing to stay silent when she turned back to the window.

Natasha couldn’t find it in herself to listen to Dumbledore spout off any of his hypocritical prejudiced bullshit, silently picking at her food as she played her playlist of Tony’s music, earphones blocking out the noise of the crowded hall. 

A note appeared next to her plate in the middle of the meal and upon recognizing the writing, she picked it up, clenching her jaw when multiple computation charms tried to latch onto her before her magic ruthlessly tore them apart.

 

_ Miss Natasha, _

_ I would love to talk about your grades and possibilities for the future. _

_ Please come have tea with me instead of detention tonight.  _

_ I am feeling in quite the mood for Lemon Drops. _

_ -Headmaster Albus Dumbledore _

 

She wondered idly how no one had just assassinated, as it would be as easy as reciting every sweet one knew. Flicking her gaze up to meet light blue eyes, she smiled softly, dipping her head. 

The man looked pleased, nodding back and turning to talk to Minerva.

Feeling her hand tighten on the note in her hand, she let it turn to ash, brushing off her hands and reaching for her goblet of wine.

Severus bumped shoulders with her, nodding up to the head table.

Looking up, she met Tom’s curious gaze with a flinch upon remembering she’d promised to see him during detention. His frown deepened, eyes hardening at what he seemed to see on her face, before his walls slammed up and he went back to talking to Professor Sprout.

With a long sigh, she put aside trying to eat, instead leaning on Severus and closing her eyes tiredly. The boy rubbed her back comfortingly, him and Lucius glaring off anyone who tried to disturb her.

 

Natasha found the office was empty when she arrived, but could feel the pulsing hum of spells designed to watch her behavior, so she didn’t dare do anything but sit down in one of the ornate chairs and wait. After long enough passed that it seemed the man wasn’t going to show up, she stood with a huff and made to leave.

“Natasha, my dear!” Dumbledore, probably realizing she wasn’t going to do anything that would incriminate herself, appeared on the staircase. “Sorry for keeping you. I seem to have lost a few papers and got side tracked.”

Smiling and containing her anger by imagining the man was the one she used to be friends with, she sat back down calmly. “Oh, it’s no problem Headmaster. I know you’re very busy. What is it you wanted to talk about?”

She could see the man pull on all his grandfatherly charm, gliding over to his desk to take a seat and looking at her with twinkly blue eyes. “My dear, you are one of our top students in the school. It seems your knowledge of magic and it’s theories are almost to that of our professors. I was just curious as to your plans for the future...”

Natasha leaned back, irritation curling up in her chest at the prod for information. “Well, not many know this, but my family was actually from a small town up north. I loved them all very much, but with the war-” She wiped at her eyes and sniffed as if distraught. “I- I just want to be stronger. Strong enough to kill the man that slaughtered my family!”

Dumbledore’s eyes lit up even as his lips pulled into a frown. “I am deeply sorry to hear about your family… Perhaps though, I could help take over your detentions and help to train you.” The man’s eyes darkened slightly. “I hear you are close with Mr. Rätsel though…”

Seeing her chances wane, she jumped to take it. “No, no... Mr. Rätsel was just nice to me when some of the Slytherin students made fun of me…” She lowered her eyes as if embarrassed. “I- I wanted to go into Gryffindor, because my mother always told me that was her house, but, well the hat told me I could possibly infiltrate the Dark Lord’s ranks easier if I went into Slytherin and…”  

The Headmaster seemed more and more pleased at this. “Natasha, are the Slytherins mean to you?”

“Severus and Lucius are nice!” She thought of the other kids, who weren’t mean, but who avoided her like the plague. “But the others think me weird and… and dirty. It’s not my fault I’m a muggleborn!”

The man jumped at this chance to console her. “Oh, no my dear, there’s nothing strange or ‘dirty’ about you. If you want, I would be pleased to take over your detentions...”

Natasha looked up with a faint smile. “I would like that very much Professor.”

A flash of pride crossed the blue eyes, before the man frowned lightly. “Very good. Though I do have to warn you away from Professor Rätsel. I fear that he is in league with the Dark Lord.”

A bolt of fear raced down her spine at Tom getting caught, making her voice purposefully unsure. “Really Professor? He- he seems so nice though…”

“It may be just me getting old, my dear child. Just be careful.” The man waved his hand, happy with just planting the seed of doubt, not actually knowing anything and she relaxed. “I will see you tomorrow for your first lesson?”

Nodding, she stood, dipping her head in a mockery of respect. “Yes. Good night Headmaster.”

 

The first few lessons were essentially just going over memories of Tom Riddle as a Hogwarts student, the man talking as if they painted him in a suspicious and evil light, before they started to duel together. That was one of the only things she liked about the whole set up, as it promoted her to train harder than she had been and it felt good to get back to the easy casting of her magic, like a muscle she’d forgotten to use regularly. 

Natasha kept her head down in classes, stayed away from Tom (while hoping he wasn’t too hurt), and slowly started to isolate herself from any and all the friends she’d made in Slytherin as Dumbledore had been implying she should do. Instead she worked with Sirius and Remus, who Dumbledore insisted were good friends to keep, and thankfully they were both easy enough to get along with.

It was a basic undercover op. 

Molding herself to what people wanted to see had always been effortless to her... so why did it hurt so much when Severus or Lucius glanced her way and she had to ignore them or when Tom would clench his jaw at her emotionless answers in class?

Though it  _ was  _ worth it.

The last session with the old man she’d finally been able to see where Fawkes was kept in a cage that was bound in layers of containment spells, as Dumbledore was starting to let his guard down around her enough to trust her alone in his office, and also to show off some of the buried hate he held for Tom.

She just needed to transfer the horcruxes without him noticing and destroy them. The goblins were readily waiting with an alibi for her and enough proof of the man’s manipulations for no wizard to want to investigate too far into the man’s death.

Easy enough...

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot that I was somewhat okay with Dumbledore the last few stories.... Usually I really don't like him. Hm.


	20. Oh, How We Suffer For Others

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, but this might hurt a bit *swings 2x4 at your head with a smile*

“Today we will be conjuring the patronus charm. If you did the reading I assigned, you should know the practical application, so find a spot around the room and practice. Not everyone will be able to do this spell and that’s perfectly alright- but I want everyone to at least try.”

Natasha leaned back against the wall, watching quietly as Lucius was only getting small spout of silver from his wand, whereas Sirius and James were laughing at where their stag and dog patroni were playing together.

Tom walked around the class, stopping by where she was standing and sending her a blank look of disappointment that had her stomach twisting uncomfortably. “Slacking off Miss Peverell? Do you think yourself above my lessons?”

She sighed slightly, pushing off the wall to stand stiffly. “No, Sir. I’m simply not sure what will appear as my patronus and I don’t really want to deal with that at the moment.”

The class watched the two of them stare each other down.

“Miss Peverell, if you would please cast the charm.”

With a deep sigh, she summoned up her silver gun. “You asked for it.” Muttering the spell, she pulled the trigger. “Expecto patronum.” 

A tall dark haired man materialized, body made of a soft silvery light for all that it seemed real. “Hey there Romanoff.”

“Loki.” 

Loki winced at her flat tone, tilting his head as if thinking a way to cheer her up. “...Did you know the other Champion- he saved you?”

She blinked, losing the mask of blankness to try to form words. “He-...” 

“He found you before HYDRA did. Burnt the Red Room and all it’s scientist to the ground. He saw you grow up a normal girl and made sure you died a natural death.” The class was still in watching them and she found with surprise that there were tears on her cheeks. “Natalia Romanova was never a weapon, so in a way, didn’t I keep my promise in the end?”

Her voice was barely there, caught in her throat. “What... what about the others?”

Loki shrugged, but she could tell the man was tired. “Steve and Peggy got married, Barnes the best man. The serum was never created because he was there, so Red Skull never came to power. Tony’s grew up with a better family, so Ultron never existed... It’s a work of art Tasha… You’d love it. Everyone is so happy and they’re all right where they always wanted to be.”

Wiping her face with her sweater, she found herself smiling brokenly up at the man. “You better come visit. You still have two trips you owe me, you jerk. Just because over there I’m not available to kick your ass doesn’t mean you can forget about me.”

“Only if you promise never to forget about me…” The man frowned lightly at her. “And to stop hurting yourself.”

Natasha scowled to mask the place where her heart was breaking. “I promise I’ll never forget you, but we both know I can’t promise anything else. Now go annoy your boyfriend, won’t you?... and tell him I appreciate what he did.”

With a nod, the man was gone.

Picking up her bag, her voice was quiet. “Excuse me, Professor Rätsel, but may I head to the infirmary?”

“Are you hurt?” The man’s voice still held a hint of concern, even after weeks of them not talking and that made her ache somewhere deep inside.

She shrugged. “I just started my period and would like permission to get a pain potion for my cramps. If that’s okay, professor.”

“Right- um- go ahead.” Seeing the man and every boy in the class blanch, she hid a smile, before stalking out to go to her dorm room instead.

 

Natasha walked into the Headmaster’s office, looking around to find it empty. 

When no wards caught her attention and no spells were found by a scan of the office via her magic, she raised an eyebrow. Asking the Hogwarts wards and smiling when she found the man had been called away for a meeting at Gringotts _(bless the goblins)_ , she moved quickly to Fawkes’ side. “Hey beautiful. I read up on horcruxes and asked Death, and she said you need to _want_ the soul piece gone. You need to cry it out or there’s no way for me to get to it.”

With a lilting lament of misery, the bird tilted it’s head and started to cry. 

Pulling off the containment charms just in time, she caught the dripping liquid in a vial which she plugged with a stopper quickly. “Thank you darling. You can be free now.”

Letting the bird fly out the window she opened, she then moved to where she’d seen a golden locket like in her vision, sighing in relief when she saw it was a real horcrux and not a fake. Grabbing it in a summoned handkerchief, she quickly ran out the tower and into the halls towards the Chamber of Secrets.

Opening the Chamber, she was about to jump in the gaping hole to where Sebastian was waiting for her, but froze at a familiar voice.

“Natasha, my dear, what are you doing?”

She glanced back at where the Headmaster was pointing the Elder wand at her, eyes dark with anger. “I’m saving my family.” Jumping into the Chamber’s entrance, she barely escaped the curse sent her way.

Landing on a wandless cushioning charm she ran though the chamber to where Sebastian was waiting, dropping the two soul pieces next to him. _“Destroy them!”_ Whirling around, she was barely able to raise a protective charm before a red stunning spell hit her.

Dumbledore moved forward slowly, face dark. “Natasha, I really am disappointed in you. Releasing my familiar was one thing, but lying for weeks on end while you plotted to kill me? You are truly the darkest wizard that I have had the misfortune of coming across… but no matter. Your death will replace the horcruxes that your evil snake will destroy.”

She felt bile rising in her throat. “Is that who you killed Albus? Dark wizards that you felt threatened by?”

A strong curse shook her barrier. “They were murderers! Karkaroff was planning on corrupting a whole generation of children and Bellatrix was practically insane in her dark magic!”

“Bellatrix?” Her heart broke, remembering how when she’d asked Tom curiously at not seeing her around, the man has said the girl had disappeared mysteriously, but to think Dumbledore had-... And Karkaroff in this life had actually wanted to teach at Durmstrang to try to do good...

Watching at the man before her falter as Sebastian destroyed the two horcruxes, she hissed to the snake. _“Go, tell Tom to send word to the Goblins and have them release the information.”_ She saw the old man picking himself up and flashed her eyes at the snake. _“Now!”_

With a bob of it’s head, the basilisk started to slither off quickly.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and she moved in front of the body-binding curse, falling to the floor stiffly even as she watched the snake escaped unharmed. 

The man looked self-righteous, stepping over to her with a deep frown like he was very disappointed. “You will have to die Natasha. I cannot have Tom Riddle gaining any more power than he already has. But first, you will tell me what you know of his involvement.”

Clenching her jaw, she shook her head, breathing in when the man slashed his wand, a whip of fire hitting her skin with a crack.

“You _will_ tell me eventually. No one is coming to save you, the spell I put around the bathroom’s entrance is too strong for anyone to find the entrance to this accursed place.”

Again and against the man asked, alternating the cracks of his whip with cutting curses.

Finally he sighed. “Just like the other two. Well, I’m afraid that you will have to die. I can’t have anyone finding out I’ve been missing.”

Venomously she glared up at the man, knowing if Tom had done as she hoped he would that the goblins were on track to have _everyone_ looking for the man. 

Spitting out blood that had risen to her mouth, she grinned. “You think Hogwarts is safe... but we’ve managed to get multiple people in. Not even the wards can block it if you know any of the seven secret passages.”

The man’s eyes narrowed once more, sending a particularly nasty sitting curse at her thigh. “Tell me who you brought in!”

She just had to give Tom some time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I 👏 Hate 👏 Dumbledore 👏 Soverymuch 👏  
> Thanks for coming to my ted talk, that's it


	21. How To Buy Some Much Needed Time With Only Words And Bloody Teeth

_ Yule Break was better than anything else Tom Riddle could have wished for.  _

_ Natasha was a wonderful reprieve from his otherwise boring and routine live, and he wondered how he’d managed to live without her around before.  _

_ Then she told him she needed a few days in her manor and reluctantly he let her go, with the promise of their shared detentions keeping him from sulking **too** much. _

_ He’d been practically vibrating with tired excitement by the time the feast in the Great Hall started, eyes darting to where Natasha was sitting, with hope building in his chest- but she looked withdrawn and almost lost as she sat without any of her usual presence. _

_ Seeing her only look up to smile at Dumbledore, his heart sank, mood fowling. _

_ Severus caught his eyes, nudging Natasha, and green eyes found his. But they were reluctant, almost afraid, and his stomach turned with disgust at seeing those poisonous emotions directed at him. Turning away, he hoped that she would be back to normal by detention. _

_ Sitting in his classroom, grading papers as if to look unaffected when Natasha came in, he found the time passed without interruption and it was already curfew. The next day when he asked the girl about it in class, her tone was short and emotionless, just telling him she was taking her detentions with another teacher. _

_ In the span of just a few days, his life had become dull and grey again. _

_ He’d waited patiently for two weeks before finally giving in and waving Severus and Lucius to stay after class, Natasha leaving without sparing a single glance to either of them. He leaned on his desk, frown deep. “Do either of you have an answer as to why Natasha is acting this way?” _

_ “No, My Lord.” Severus shook his head, both replying, but Lucius flinched slightly as he did the same.  _

_ His eyes narrowed on the blonde boy. “Lucius…” _

_ Wincing, the boy looked up. “Milord… She stays out late, coming back sometimes more or less out of breath and mussed up. I- I don’t like to think that she would abandon us like this for a lover… but she is quite loyal, so maybe the person she’s seeing is someone on the side of the Light? They could be manipulating her to stay away from us.” _

_ Severus nodded, as if to agree. “She has been spending more time with Black and Lupin.” _

_ Tom scowled at this thought. The girl had seemed to be isolating herself in his class, staying with Black and Lupin, but if this was true… He knew the two were lovers of hers in previous lives, but would she really up and forget him because of prejudiced teenagers? Nodding slowly, he tightened his hands on the edge of his desk. “Very well. Keep your eyes on her and alert me if she does anything else out of the ordinary.” _

_ The two boys left and he cast a quick privacy ward before proceeding to spill his anger and betrayal into breaking every desk in his classroom. _

_ No. He wouldn’t believe it. _

_ She had to have a good reason for leaving him. _

 

_ A month passed of silence from the redhead, both Slytherin boys reporting the same things. She was always out late, coming back in a state of lost composure, she hung out with the idiots that called themselves the ‘marauders’, and she refused to acknowledge his presence except for in class. _

_ He was losing sleep over the issue, something he thought was unacceptable, and was thinking over the endless possibilities of what Natasha was doing at the moment when a hiss broke his train of thought.  _

**_“Bond-mate speaker, Asha has instructions for you.”_ ** _ The small basilisk seemed to slide out of a passage in the wall that closed behind him.  _ **_“Asha is holding off the evil old man, but you must go to the goblins and have them release some important information.”_ **

_ He blinked.  _ **_“Where is she? Where’s Natasha?”_ **

**_“We must warn the goblins. The old man has her and we don’t have much time. We must warn the goblins before she dies.”_ **

_ That jolted him into standing from his chair and grabbing the snake, eyes flashing.  _ **_“Where is she! Tell me where he has her!”_ **

_ But the snake was insistent.  _ **_“Goblins first. Asha has plans for this. Without her plans she will die in vain. Bond-mate must go to the goblins.”_ **

_ With a hiss of irritation, he rushed to the floo, throwing down the powder. “Gringotts Atrium!” Smoothly striding out without wasting the time to brush himself off, Sebastian curled around his arm, Tom strode to a teller. “I have a message from Natasha Peverell. She says to release the information.” _

_ The goblin looked at him coolly, as if doubting the validity of his claim. “And what is Miss Peverell’s password?” _

_ The snake hissed hurriedly.  _ **_“Alianovna.”_ **

_ Tom glanced at the snake, before looking at the goblin once more. “Alianovna.” _

_ Eyes widening, the goblin moved to get down from his booth, waving at Tom. “This way sir. Quickly.” The goblin explained what was happening as they walked briskly into the depths of Gringotts. “She came to us over Yule, proving herself as a Goblin Friend and asking we do an audit of every account under Dumbledore’s magical guardianship. We found the man has been embezzling from the accounts of muggleborns and upon contacting these same children, found he was routinely putting some back into less than suitable homes. We were asked to withhold this information as well as proof of the man placing various compulsions on his students, until Miss Peverell could find and destroy his horcruxes. You coming to us must mean that she is currently going toe to toe with the man and we should get the man accused in case she does not return.” _

_ Tom’s lungs forgot how to breathe. “She-” _

_ “Natasha is the Master of Death and skilled enough to earn her place as a Goblin Friend. She will be alright.” The goblin looked at him sharply before barking orders to desks of goblins in gobbledygook, the goblins getting up and rushing for files, pulling them in different metallic boxes and watching as they vanished. _

_  He hoped, for Dumbledore’s sake, the goblin was right.  _

_ Tom would see the world burn before someone took Natasha from him. _

 

A cutting curse.

Natasha grinned with blood in her mouth at the man who had to take a break, his magic still weak from getting ⅔ of his soul destroyed. “You miserable old man, you’ll  _ never  _ beat Tom! He’s already so powerful, and he may not be good at controlling his temper sometimes, but he is damn well more  _ ‘light’ _ that _you_.”

“Be quiet!” The man flicked the Elder wand, making her slam against the wall, arms pinned against the stone, and crazed blue eyes caught on where she felt her sleeve slip. In an instant, the man was grabbing her arm with the mark of the Deathly Hallows, eyes wild. “You- you can't be...”

She smirked. “Oh but I am. And guess what? You can’t use the Master of Death in your stupid soul-splitting ritual because I can’t actually die!” Laughing slightly hysterically, she spit the blood collecting in her mouth at the man.

Wiping his face with a look of disgust, the man moved back. “You’re his partner. Tom’s confidant, the darkest wizard of them all, and I will find a way to kill you before I kill him. For the good of the-”

“Shut up would you? No one needs your Grindelwald-obsessed ass!” In a second the pain she knew all to well as the cruciatus curse had her writhing against her invisible bonds.

Dumbledore’s voice was venomous. “How do you know about that?”

Her laughter at being released from the charm was strained, voice hoarse from holding in screams. “Same thing I told Slughorn. I like to find hidden secrets, expose them to-”

Another crucio hit her. 

“WHO DID YOU TELL!”

There was blood dripping from her lips, head limply handing forward, but her chuckle was still mocking and her voice was a vicious whisper. “ _ Everyone _ .”

This time when the crucio hit, she did scream, but it was mixed with cackling laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we just.... appreciate Tom?  
> Maybe it's late and I need sleep, but like that 180 turn around from 'why'd she leave me' to 'let's go save my girl' is just- giving me unnecessary feelings.  
> AND that 'everyone'? Man I get too emotional over my own stories....


	22. There Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this already written up and decided to actually post it because- well- why not?  
> So get ready for some Quality Content 👌

_ All at the same time, goblin boxes around Britain (and France) glowed, alerting the recipients to a message from the goblin nation. _

_ The Minister of Magic, the French Prime Minister, Minerva McGonagall, the Head of the DMLE, and all the Lords of every politically relevant house all got the same file the thickness of a textbook. The same list of accusations, each with attached proof.  _

_ Fifty counts of embezzlement, twenty counts of abuse of a magical minor, three-hundred counts of casting compulsion charms on an underage wizard, six counts of the use of love potions on underage students, and two counts of suspected murder.  _

_ Within the hour, a crowd of wizards and witches from influential houses were demanding Albus Dumbledore’s head on a golden platter, two troops of Aurors sent to Hogwarts. The wards were locked down, as to stop him from escaping, but there was no sign of the man after searching the castle up and down. _

_ Tom Riddle watched this, already back at Hogwarts, his impatience building.  _

_ Natasha was still missing and no one even knew to look for her. _

_ Sebastian hissed something in his ear and he strode past the gathered pajama-clad students to where the Slytherin table was watching the proceedings with unrestrained glee. “Is everyone here? Is anyone missing?” _

_ There was a pause of looking around before Lucius stood. “Natasha! She’s gone sir!” _

_ The Aurors paused, one of the head Aurors striding over quickly. “Do you know where she could be?” _

_ Minerva gasped, voice shaking. “She- Albus told me that he was talking over her detentions to train her. You don’t think-” _

_ The Auror’s head snapped back to Lucius. “Where does she like to hang out? Is there anywhere in the castle she knows that might be hard to get to or secret from everyone else?” _

_ One of the other Slytherins connected the dots, standing up. “She’s a heir of Salazar Slytherin, has a basilisk familiar and everything! She must be in the Chamber of Secrets! He must have taken her there!” _

_ Tom pulled Sebastian from where he was curled around his arm. “Her snake found me earlier, as he seems to like me, but I thought-” He let his actual distress show on his face, knowing it would sell the picture. “You don’t think-” _

_ The Auror looked to the snake, voice raising the speak to the whole of the Slytherin table. “Can anyone get this thing to guide us to her?” _

**_“Rude human. I would guide you to her anyway.”_ **

_ Tom looked at the snake, careful not to slip into parseltongue and give himself away. “Sebastian, your mistress might be in great harm, can you point me to the Chamber of Secrets?” _

_ The snake seemed to roll it’s eyes.  _ **_“Finally you dumb humans get the idea... Follow me. The old man sealed off the other entrance.”_ ** _ Sebastian dropped to the floor, Tom leading the Aurors after the snake. _

_ “This way!” _

 

Dumbledore was looking more and more crazed. “You will tell me how to become Death’s Master. What did you do!” A crucio hit her again. “TELL ME!”

Screaming, voice too ragged to laugh, she shook with the torture curse. Eyes rolling back, she slumped as the curse was released, she hissed weakly as a reviving spell hit her and made her jolt back from the edge of the blissful oblivion. “I- I can’t-...”

“YOU  _ WILL _ TELL ME!” The crack of a whip on the skin the man had took the time to uncover made her cry out weakly. 

Covered in blood and sweat and dirt, she tilted her head lazily at the man with the crazed blue eyes. “Why?” Taking a deep breath, she felt tears hot on her cheeks. “I- I can’t give it to you. You’ll never have it…”

This time, the man flicked his wand, a nearby piece of rubble being transfigured into a dagger that was levitated before plunging into her stomach. 

Coughing up more blood, adding to the puddle forming at her feet, she gasped in pain. “Ple-please…”

“TELL ME!”

There was a cutting curse burning her skin, and at hearing faint footsteps, she cried out louder. “Please! Please I- I don’t know what you want!”

Dumbledore cast the crucio again, her vision blurring and going white just as she saw twelve Aurors burst into the Chamber, Tom in the front. “ _ Natasha _ !”

The Headmaster looked startled, trying to look casual as he dropped his torture curse. Slowly her vision returned. “Professor Rätsel? Alastor?”

The man who looked like a younger, way less beat-up Mad-Eye Moody held up his wand with a growl. “Albus, put down the wand and let the girl go.”

Dumbledore glanced at her. “She’s Dark Alastor! Darker than anyone I’ve ever seen! She’s in league with the Dark Lord himself!”

Moody glanced to her arms, scowl deepening. “Albus, she has marks, but not of the Dark Lord. They’re probably just tattoos Albus. Let her go.”

“Plea- please, help me.” Her voice was still rough from the torture.

“You are NOT GOING  _ ANYWHERE _ !” Albus’ eyes burned as he looked at her. “You will tell me Natasha. You  _ will  _ tell me what you know!”

She saw the resolve of the Aurors harden at this show of insanity, Moody stepping forward. “Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Natasha Peverell, if you resist arrest we will be forced to take you in by any means necessary.”

The man threw up a barrier around them, facing her, his mad desire to control the Deathly Hallows weighing out over his logical reasoning. “Tell me how you did it!” Another cutting curse sent the Aurors into trying to break down the barrier with bright flashes of light, Tom working with them, his moves almost fractic.

“I-I didn’t... do anything.” 

Technically, she  _ was  _ telling the truth.

“LIES!” Another dagger sunk into her stomach and she choked on the rush of blood that forced it’s way up her throat and onto the floor, vision spotting. 

She could feel it, that precipice of death, where she was teetering on the edge precariously. So she decided to cement the case against Dumbledore. Voice barely a whisper, she looked up at the blue eyed man. “Tell- tell Tom... that I love him…”

With the eyes of a man that had broken from his morals and sanity completely, the Elder Wand pointed at her, seeming to vibrate in her consciousness with a question and she closed her eyes. 

_ Yes.  _

Yes... this will do nicely to push the hate of the Wizarding World onto the man in front of her.

“AVADA KEDAVRA!”

 

Natasha sat up with a gasp, looking around and settling when she found herself in the white room. 

Death waved to her. “Come here, quick! You’ll miss it!”

Walking over, she found the two deities watching on a laptop what looked like the Chamber of Secrets. There was Dumbledore and her limp body, the Aurors finally breaking the shield and more than a few stunners were shot at the headmaster before he was bound. 

But her eyes were on where Tom had rushed to where her body was laying limply in the puddle of blood.

Fate grinned. “That felt good. Before you came along he'd ruined my plans more than a couple time with his manipulations. I'm glad you got it all fixed up though.” Looking up at her, the blonde smiled. “You wanna go back in a different body, play the grieving mother? I could whip up a quick alias for you.”

Natasha tilted her head. “How about Natasha? My daughter was called Natalia but always went by my name because she liked it better?”

Fate shrugged. “I can do that. Enjoy.”

Blinking, she found herself standing outside the wards of Hogwarts in a long pencil skirt with a matching blazer and high heels. Grinning briefly before composing her face into a mask of worry, she ran to the doors of the Great Hall, throwing them open with a wave of her magic. Letting her eyes scan the crowd of children, the worn Aurors, the wide-eyed Dumbledore, her eyes rested on where Tom was carrying her younger body with a sad sort of reverence in his eyes. 

“Natalia!” Crying out in that classic wail of grief like she’d heard from many mothers before, she held up a shaking hand to her mouth. “Oh, baby, what did they do-” She stumbled forward, ignoring Tom’s shocked eyes, hands trembling over the red hair of her other self. “My baby... oh they- he _killed_ my _baby_!”

“Ma’am-” Moody tried to step forward, but froze when she spun on him, letting go of the constraints around her magic and letting it whip around her like a wildfire. 

Her eyes were blazing. “Where is he!” 

The Aurors moved aside quickly, as she stalked up to Dumbledore, slapping him across the cheek. “How dare you lay your hands on my Natalia!”

“Do you mean Natasha, miss...?” Moody stepped forward.

Sobbing, she reached out to grab the man’s shoulder, breaking into tears as he hurriedly reached out to hold her up. “She- she-… she did call herself that, didn’t she?” With ragged breaths, she wiped at her eyes. “Always wants to be like me, even calls-  _ Called _ herself Natasha after me because-” She shook her head, sobbing.

A hand grabbed her arm. “Lady Peverell, please.” Severus smiled up at her sadly even as his eyes sparkled with amusement, Lucius at his side as always. “Natalia wouldn’t want you to cry.”

Pulling both boys into a warm hug, she sniffed. “What good friends she has. I- I bet she’ll miss you dearly...” Lucius just rubbed her back awkwardly. Standing and wiping her eyes, she looked to Dumbledore with burning eyes. “Take him away from here. Away from my little girl. He should get the  _ kiss _ for what he’s done.”

Moody nodded, waving to the men and she watched Albus get dragged away, his blue eyes watching her with insane confusion.

Turning to where Tom was still carrying her body, she looked to Minerva McGonagall. “As I see you as the new Headmaster, may I ask that my daughter is buried on these grounds? She loved it here so much…”

McGonagall looked shocked, but nodded, eyes full of pain. “If you think that it would make her happiest. She really was such a bright young witch…”

The Hall broke out in whispers, some of the girls in the crowd even crying, including Lily Potter. Natasha smiled softly. “She would have liked that, but I fear that it has been a long night. We could wait until morning… if you would like.”

Minerva shook her head. “We should lay her to rest as soon as we can.” Turning to the hall, the woman raised her hands to quiet the silence. “If you wish you stay up for Natalia’s vigil, you may as there will be no classes tomorrow, but whoever cannot bear it or is too tired is welcome to go to their dorms.”

Only half the school decided to stay, but she noticed no one from Slytherin moved.

Taking the body from Tom with a sad sort of smile, she led the procession. As she walked, balls of light she knew as the fairies from the forest appeared to light their way, a unicorn meeting her to walk one one side of her, a thestral of the other side.

Reaching the hill down to the Black Lake, she waved her hand, magic reaching out and hollowing out the ground easily. 

Waiting until the crowd was circling the grave, she let the body go, stepping away from the levitating corpse of her ‘daughter’. 

“May you ever walk these halls after dark, dance with your friends in the grass, and always give your teachers a hard time. May you eat chocolates whenever you want and laugh whenever possible. I will never forget you, my dear Natalia, nor your love for danger and making my hair turn grey… I only wish that I had gotten here earlier so that I might have saved that bright light in your eyes.” Waving her hand to grow a flower from a bit of soil, she put it on the floating body and stepped back.

Severus stepped forward. “Natalia- you were the best friend, the kindest person I ever knew, and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sister. I hope you are happy, wherever you are.” The boy placed a transfigured white rose down.

“You were brilliant Natalia.” Lucius was next, with a sunflower in hand. “I don’t think I have ever respected or cared for someone more than I did you. You will be missed, my sister, always.”

This continued, even the marauders choking out short words, before Lupin stepped forward with a marigold in hand, eyes fixing on her for a long moment before he looked down at the other body. “Natalia. You saw me for who I was. You seemed to see the good in everything and for that infinite knowledge and kindness, I hope you well.”

She felt herself actually tearing up, as if this was her funeral, leaning on Severus and Lucius to stabilize herself.

Tom stepped forward, eyes unreadable. “You were my favorite student Natalia… And as for the last words you said, I think that the one you love would be eternally happy that you are at peace now. You will see him again.”

The girls in the crowd seemed to sigh at the man dreamily and Severus hissed, making her realize she was digging her nails into the boys shoulders. She smiled sheepishly down at him. “Sorry.”

Both boys just waved her off with matching eye rolls.

When everyone was done, the body covered in flowers and small bows and bracelets, she stepped forward again. “With the blessing of the moon and the stars, we lay this child to rest, asking that she is at peace.”

There was a soft warm breeze across the hill that made everyone smile.

“Sleep well, my child, and never let the future generations forget what has occurred here today. May you forever protect these grounds.” Waving her hand, the body was lowered into the ground, earth moving to cover it up. 

After a moment of silence, there was a gentle glow of golden light, a small apple tree slowly sprouting from the ground.

She barely smothered her giggles under a small sob, turning from the grave to Minerva. “I would, in the loss of your Headmaster, be happy to take over your classes in transfiguration while you put everything back together…”

The woman looked surprised, but nodded. “If your magic is anything like what I saw tonight, I would be happy to have you take over my class for the rest of the year.”

With a nod, she moved past the woman. “I will stay in my daughter’s rooms… move her stuff into a different room in the mornings.” Before anyone could stop her she was walking away swiftly, Severus and Lucius running to catch up with her.

 

Packing up her stuff in the dorm room the next morning, she shrunk everything into her pockets and nodded to the students as she passed, only pausing when she saw the sullen snake by the fire. With a soft smile, she made her way over, crouching down to eye level of the small basilisk.  _ “Moping, Sebastian?” _

Yellow eyes caught hers, widening.  _ “Asha! Asha is here and alive!” _

She laughed.  _ “Come on you silly snake, let’s get you some food.”  _ Holding out her hand, Sebastian wound himself up to her shoulders, resting comfortably as she stalked out of the common room.

Feeling the eyes on her, heels clicking against the tile floor, she noticed with amusement the only seat up at the head table open was next to Tom. 

Sliding into her seat, she watched Minerva take the podium. “Students of Hogwarts, we have come through a horrible occurrence and I want everyone who needs it to go to Madame Pomfrey for health checks or calming droughts. As for classes, Lady Peverell will take up my class for the remainder of the year, while I sort out this mess of a situation. Please, everyone make sure Lady Peverell is welcome in our castle.”

She waved out to the crowd with a weak half-smile, grateful for when the food appeared so most of the students would stop staring at her.

“So. Natasha.” Tom’s smooth voice was soft to her side, elbow on the table so he could watch her closely with those unreadable whiskey eyes.

Her voice was soft. “Thomas...”

His eyes were impossibly warm, like molten gold, even as his lips twisted into a frown. His voice was a soft whisper, barely audible in the noise of the hall. “You stopped talking to me and then ran off and got yourself in trouble.”

Leaning back in her chair, she worried at her lip, eyes flicking between his golden orbs. “I-… Yeah I have no excuse.”

The man lifted his head from his hand, turning to face her entirely, face intense as his voice dropped to a hiss. “I have half a mind to drag you back to the manor and lock you in a room, never let you out of my sight again.” 

“But…” She swallowed at the dark look in those eyes. “But you won’t-- is what i’m  _ hoping _ you’ll say next.”

The man paused, gone still as a snake waiting to strike. “Not unless you plan on attracting more admirers than you already have.” The man turned back to his food, sending her a sharp look. “Half the hall is staring at you like a piece of meat.”

Looking around at the eyes of the many teenage boys staring at her, she felt her face heat in embarrassment, eyes snapping back to Tom. “So?”

The man raised an eyebrow at her, leaning over to whisper harshly, “You forget who you belong to.”

A flash of white hot indignation surged through her, finding herself hissing back, “I don’t  _ belong  _ to  _ anyone _ !” Standing from her chair, she stalked out of the hall.

Severus and Lucius found her in the astronomy tower a little while later, moving to sit next to her quietly. “Sorry...” Her voice was soft. “I didn’t mean to push you two away. I just- I had to get close to Dumbledore.”

Both boys nodded. “We understand now. It’s okay.”

The three sat in their comfortable silence, reading and talking lightly most of the day.

 

The next day Natasha took over Minerva's classes with ease, as she had been doing practically all the grading work anyways, helping teach and explain each spell she taught. By the end of the day she was the type of tired that she liked to be- knowing she was making a difference.

Dinner was a quiet affair, but she found long fingers curling around her wrist as she went to walk back to her rooms to grade a few papers and then read a bit. “Natasha. Please talk to me.”

Her gaze was icy. “You forget who I am Riddle. What I can do. Don't you know not to try to clip the wings of a Phoenix?”

Stupidly handsome cheekbones and soft pink lips pulled into a grimace. “I know I shouldn't have said it. I realize now it would remind you of the man from your last life, but I- I’m a bit possessive.” The hand on her wrist tightened for a fraction of a second. “Sit with me and grade papers? I miss your presence when you're not around.”

Natasha blinked at the lack of lies, nodding slowly. “Fine... Let me get my papers and I'll come by.”

Tom nodded and after a second, let her go.

 

_ Tom had felt such grief at the body of his precious Natasha limp in his arms, slowly growing colder, and he wanted to scream or start throwing curses.  _

_ Then the doors slammed open and standing there was the woman he knew as Natasha… but- she was- _

_ There wasn't much time to think about  _ _ how _ _ , as this woman proceeded to command the room, delivering a performance of grief so real that even he was blinking away tears, the woman ordered away Dumbledore and then guided half the school into burying the girl's body on the grounds of the castle. _

_ It wasn't until dinner the next night that he got to actually look at the woman. Same big glittering green eyes, blood red hair pinned up elegantly, but this woman wore her skin comfortably where there was always some apprehension in ‘Natalia’. She knew every inch of her body and was determined to use every inch to get what she wanted. _

_ Already the woman had captured the eyes of every red-blooded male in the room (Aside from Severus and Lucius who just looked at her fondly), and he clenched his jaw as she calmly strolled in, as if choosing to ignore the teenagers that were salivating with every click of the bloody heels she was wearing like they were everyday slippers.  _

_ (In the back of his mind he wondered if she could do her favorite gymnastics in the shoes, but had to push the thought away before it fried his brain and he was just another mindless slave to her pull of attraction.) _

_ But hearing her casually say, ‘So?’ as if she was used to being objectified and it didn't bother her made his blood burn, mouth saying something he regretted almost instantly. _

_ Natasha's eyes had chilled him to the core, the disgust on her face piercing his heart and when she stalked out he put his head in his hands. _

_ Professor Sprout leaned over to pat his back. “She's going through a tough time, dearie. I can tell you're important to her, but she has to grieve.” The woman's smile was warm. “I knew you were a good man, Thomas, the way you always looked out for that girl. I’m sure Natalia would be glad to know that you make her mom so happy.” _

_ He startled slightly, rubbing at his face for a long moment before nodding to the woman. “Right. Yeah…” _

_ The happy Herbology professor smiled brightly. “Natasha will come around to it. I can see she cares for you.” _

_ Tom simply nodded, storing away the information and leaving Natasha alone for two days, before catching her after dinner on the second day. Baring a little of his overwhelming need to be close to her, she reluctantly agreed to spend some time with him in the time they used to take detentions together. _

_ Settling himself comfortably in his chair and leaning over his papers (after he had definitely  _ _ not _ _ checked his hair quickly), there was a quiet knock on the door, a very unexpected girl with orangish red hair peeking in. “Professor?” _

_ “Lily Evans!” And there appeared Natasha, smile soft. “I have heard great things from my-... Well, Thomas and I were just going to grade papers and talk lessons, why are you lingering around here?” _

_ The girl fidgeted, clutching at her hand which he now noticed was bruised. “I got… detention.” _

_ The woman he had wanted desperately to get alone to see with her defences down, bask in her closeness, just guided the girl in easily and he had to mask his scowl. _

_ This was going to be a test of his patience for sure. _

 

Natasha gently guided Lily into the classroom, sitting her at a desk and pulling up a chair. “Oh- look at this hand! Let me guess, you punched someone for talking bad about one of your friends?” 

Lily flushed lightly. “I- um- Some boy was making crude comments about you actually, Miss Peverell. I just punched him before Potter, Black, or Lupin could get to him.”

This made her blink. She hadn't thought she’d made that big an impression on the school yet.

These was a low growl from behind her, Tom looking murderous. “And might I ask  _ who _ was saying these things?”

Before the girl could speak she looked back at the man with an amused smile. “Thomas darling, if you go and instill fear into the teenagers, then Miss Evans will have gotten detention for nothing. Just keep your possessiveness to yourself until someone else hits on me without thinking. I guarantee you'll get your chance to scare the piss out of some boy soon enough.” Ignoring the scowl on the man's face, she turned back to Lily with an exasperated whisper. “ _ Men _ .”

The girl just looked surprised, but didn't say anything.

Natasha took the girl's hand, gently making sure there was nothing broken before she summoned an ice pack. “Fortunately, you don't have anything but an aching discolored hand. Nothing broken either, which is most impressive. Who taught you how to punch?”

Lily blinked, before flushing again. “S-Sev?”

Smiling widely, Natasha stood up, moving to the main isle. “How about for detention we see if we can teach you a few practical fighting techniques that you can use without a wand.”

The girl nodded, eyes lighting up at the prospect of learning, and they spent the next hour and a half going over the basic ways to take someone down to the ground

Eventually she stood, smiling. “Very promising! I would suggest you practice with those boys, the marauders, and I'll see if Severus and Lucius are able to come join. I did have quite a fun time teaching them to fight over break.”

Lily nodded, rushing out with a few grateful thank yous.

Natasha moved to sit on the edge of Tom's desk, the man already watching her with unreadable eyes. She reached out to tangle one of his larger hands with hers. “Whats on your mind, sweetheart?”

“Can you stop being perfect and beautiful, or is that too much to ask?” His voice dripped with honey and silk, sending a shiver down her spine as he grabbed her hips and slid her so she was sitting in front of him. “I swear if any one of those hormone-infested teenagers lay a hand on you, I don't know what curse will hit them- but I know it'll  _ hurt _ .”

She leaned forward slightly, entranced in the subtle change of color in the brown eyes, voice a whisper. “Possessive bastard.”

Eyes she now noticed had dark shadows under them, as if from lack of sleep, glanced to her lips for a long before meeting her eyes again. “Irritating temptress…”

The door opened. “Oh, Miss Peverell, I forgot to ask about-” The girl froze at seeing them, a small strangled squeak and red cheeks showing her surprise at their obviously intimate moment. “I- Sorry!” The girl ran away quickly.

With a deep sigh, Natasha leaned back on her hands, eyes flicking to the man still watching her. “Well, now the whole school will now by morning exactly how  _ close  _ we are.” After a pause her eyes narrowed on the man. “And you aren't one bit disappointed this happened!”

Tom leaned back with a shrug. “Most all the students know not to cross me. The ones who forget… will just have to be reminded.”

Huffing, she slid off the desk, grabbing her papers. “ _ Merlin _ , I forget how obsessive you are for  _ one moment _ , and there you go, doing it again!” She strode out quickly, hoping that she could forget the dilation of his pupils when he looked at her.

 

Natasha was in the middle of a class on human transfiguration, the class of sixth years trying to change the color of their eyebrows in mirrors, while she strolled around and gave out tips to a few struggling students.

She was in the middle of explaining how magic was based on will to a Hufflepuff girl when there was a soft knock on the door and the class broke out into whispers. Spinning around, she narrowed her eyes at the man standing in the doorway to the classroom, crossing her arms. “Mr. Rätsel.”

Tom flinched ever so slightly, eyes wary even if his face gave nothing away. “Natasha... I think I need your help. You are significantly better at deciphering the bad penmanship of teenagers, if I recall correctly.”

Scoffing lightly, she moved to take the papers from his hands, leaning on her desk as she smirked at him. “Still having trouble deciphering the mind of the teenager Thomas? I thought you of all people would know how to, with how petty you are.” Hiding a smile as the class snickered, she looked down at the paper, her smile slowly falling from her lips as she read the paper. She looked up. “ _What_ am I reading?”

The man looked amused, eyes glinting. “It seems that a few of my more  _ creative  _ students are expressing their attraction to you though their essays, giving me very  _ unusual _ practical applications of a few defensive charms.”

The paper was dropped from her hand like it was poisonous. “Thomas, why in Fate’s name did you make me read that?” With a snap of her fingers it was set alight and she wiped her hands off on her black skinny jeans with a shiver. “I feel as if I took a bath in  _ slime _ .”

“No reason.” Tom grinned. “Just thought you should know to watch out for yourself, since you refuse to let me do anything.” With a smirk that set her teeth on edge, he strolled back out of the classroom.

Leaning back on her desk and pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed deeply.  _ “Sebastian?” _

The snake poked it’s head out from under the desk, where it was previously curled up.  _ “Yes Asha?” _

_ “Go catch up with Tom. Tell him that he can do as he pleases to make this ridiculousness stop, but also tell him to stay away from hurting any students that aren’t his followers.”  _ With a bobbed head, the snake slithered away and she turned back to her class with a strained half-smile. “I apologize for the interruption, please continue to work on your transfiguration.”

 

Only two days later, she was running late to a class of seventh years- running into the room and expecting to find it one fire- but there was silence as the class worked diligently. 

Turning to her desk, she found the reason  _ why  _ sitting in her chair. “Thomas... What’s with interrupting my classes? I see you at every meal and to grade papers, but now you’ve decided to take over a  _ third  _ workload?”

Tom just smiled sweetly. “Oh, but dearest, didn’t you hear? Minerva just hired a replacement Potions teacher, so I have more than enough free periods to come annoy you, as I know you love.”

Scowling at the man, she put her papers down. “Is this like  _ reverse  _ Deja Vu? You, lounging around in my chair annoying me when I’m trying to work?”

With a laugh, he stood from the chair, perching himself on the edge of her desk. “There. Now it really completes the picture.” As she sat down he grinned. “No, as much as I would love this to be a social call because I think your eyes are really the prettiest color of green I’ve ever seen, I’m  _ actually  _ here to ask for help in a dueling demonstration.”

“You  _ do  _ think my eyes are pretty.” She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve only told me about six million times, you annoying sap.”

With a look of mock hurt at that, the man offered up a crooked smile. “Fine, I’ll give you that, but the offer still stands. Duel? Me… you… Me winning easily because you break one of those  _ ridiculous  _ heels of yours?…”

Natasha gave him a withering glare. “Fine. I’ll kick your ass-  _ with  _ my heels on- but there’s gonna be two duels. One with regular magic, no spells barred, the other without magic.” Her slow grin was lethal. “I hope you know that just because Natalia let you beat her a few times doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you  _ darling _ .”

Tom stood easily, smoothing out his robes and shooting her a polite smile that hid his irritation at not being able to decline. “Saturday. On the Quidditch pitch after the game.” Then spinning on his heels, the man stalked out of his classroom.

There was a moment of silence before Severus smirked at her from the front of the class. “You really didn’t think though heals on the Quidditch pitch, did you?”

“I mean this respectfully- but shut up, Severus.” 

Her irritation only made the class laugh softly.

 

As the duel got closer, she and Thomas traded off annoying each other on their breaks, usually sitting in on the other’s class and throwing in snide comments. Though it was clear that there were Transfiguration things he knew better and Defence things she knew better, they both still teased each other at the gaps in the other person’s knowledge.

Soon enough it was Saturday, and she dressed in her usual loose slacks and blouse, slinging her guns into their holsters easily. 

The school was still reeling from when she had pulled out the twin glocks to fix a desk for kid managed to break, amazed that not only she could summon things like her ‘daughter’, but that her wands also took the same shape as that of her ‘daughter’s’ silver gun. She had casually mentioned the silver gun to be a family heirloom, that she’d kept after her ‘daughter’s’ death, and the summoning a genetic trait.

Walking out to the Quidditch Pitch she saw Tom, who was wearing dragonhide clothes without a long outer robe, and proceeded to sit down next to him. “You look good.”

“I could say the same to you.” The man eyed her appreciatively, before they both relaxed into watching Gryffindor cream Slytherin in Quidditch, with Sirius Black announcing what seemed like everything  _ but  _ the scoring.

When the game finished, Minerva grabbed the microphone.  _ “We will now be having Professors Rätsel and Peverell engage in two duels, one using magic, the other without.” _

Tom helped her up, both calmly walking down to the Quidditch Pitch. 

Drawing her gun, she fired a spell, and Tom watched in amusement as the grass was turned into a large stone platform. She hopped up onto it and when he did the same it slowly raised into the air so the stands could see better. “Hope you don’t mind, I don’t want you gaining an unfair advantage because of my pride at rising to meet your challenge of beating you in my high heels.”

With a minor shrug, the man smiled. “I expected no less.”

Minerva’s voice rang out across the arena.  _ “Contestants, bow to your opponent.”  _ She curtsied gracefully, chuckling when Tom swept into a low formal bow.  _ “You may now begin.” _

Both straightened, watching each other for a long moment, both not moving a muscle. 

But her eyes caught his left shoulder twitch, gracefully landing a back handspring to avoid the binding spell sent her way. With her guns in hand, she sent two stunning spells his way, while moving quickly to the side to avoid a jet of fire.

A cutting curse hit her side and she fell back on the ground to avoid a levitation charm, rolling to the side to avoid a body-binding hex while firing off three successive stunners mixed with a electric shock.

Rolling to her feet, she cast an opaque shield up, while muttering Loki’s favorite Norse spell as she held the shield against the spells the man cast. Her consciousness was torn apart for a second, before she blinked, grinning at her body double and tossing the other Natasha her silver gun. Casting a disillusionment charm on herself, she lowered the barrier.

Tom blinked at the change in tactic, and the pause in between spells was all she needed, her double moving to the side and distracting him with stunners, while she moved quietly to the other side.

The man had gotten the upper hand on her double and the simple body-binding spell made it disappear in a shimmer of gold tendrils. Tom spun around and cast a stunner that she ducked, moving so they were inches apart, her gun to his stomach.

With an amused grin, there was the feeling of a wand at her throat. The man’s voice was still smooth, if not a little breathless. “You held back on me, using your more obscure spells instead of just overpowering me.”

She shrugged, barely. “Figured that we should give ‘em a show… and keep your pride intact.” Stepping away from the man, she holstered her obsidian gun, summoning the other to her hand easily from across the platform.

Minerva spoke up over the arena with her voice booming.  _ “I think that’s a draw!” _ A ripple of cheering went over the stands.  _ “And now we have the non-magical duel!” _ The cheers got even louder as Natasha shed her holsters and peeled her blouse away to reveal a tank top. 

With a pouting glare, the man shed his outer robes, and for a long second all she could see was the pale expanse of skin emphasized by the veins that tensed as he moved. A ripple of whistles went through the crowds and Sirius must’ve gotten the microphone back because-

_ “What a day it is! Not only did Gryffyndor win, but our two hottest, professors are giving each other a slow strip tease before the fight! What sportsmanship! What amazing form these two have!” _ Both smiled at each other as Minerva could be heard in the background screeching at Sirius to give her the mic back.  _ “I say that we should start this. Give me a ‘hell yeah’ if you agree!”  _

The crowd was loud in it’s yells of ‘ _ Hell yeah!’ _

She could tell Sirius was smirking.  _ “Fine-ass-looking-Professors, I believe that is your mark!”  _ Tom shook his head, but grinned anyway when they started to circle each other, slowly growing closer and closer.  _ “Oh and I think that’s it everyone! They’ve started to engage in their territorial hot-person fight!” _

Tom moved first, lunging to sweep her feet, even as she danced away and threw a kick that he caught easily. 

_ “Oh, looks like Miss Peverell is caught! Will this be the end for-” _ Kicking him with her other foot to make him stumble back, she landed on her hands, flipping herself back up easily.  _ “OHHHH Look at that! What a badass move everyone! She’s out here looking better than Rätsel right now in that sleeveless shirt…” _

Sending a wink at Sirius, she engaged Tom in a dance-like pattern of blocking his hits easily. The man growled in frustration. “You’re just toying with me!”

Laughing, she stopped blocking his attacks, just ducking and weaving. “And you’re getting tired, love.” Leaping up, she wrapped her thighs around his waist, pausing to plant a soft kiss on the crown of his head. “Sorry about this.” Throwing herself back, she used her momentum to flip him onto his back, standing and casting a quick cushioning charm before he hit the ground.

The crowd was silent until-  _ “Look at that! With one swift move and he’s down! Who else needs a cold shower, that was-!” _

_ “SIRIUS ORION BLACK!”  _ Minerva got back the microphone.  _ “It’s a clear win to Natasha Peverell!” _

Natasha lazily saluted the stands, moving to help Tom up, who was hiding a smile behind a fake frown. “You look absolutely  _ distraught  _ sweetheart.”

The man shrugged. “It was worth it to have you wrapped around me like that.”

She punched his shoulder lightly. “Idiot.”

“ _ Your _ idiot.” His voice was sing-song as they waited for the stone platform to descend to the ground, before turning back to grass. “Want me to hold your shoes?”

Her smile was wide. “How about you just hold  _ me _ ?”

With an eye roll, Tom turned around. “Only this time, because you beat me, and you better hope this doesn’t make it into the papers.” 

“Of course, darling.” Laughing, Natasha hopped up so he was carrying her piggy-back, the man easily carrying her through the crowds as she gave out high-fives (to the muggleborns who actually knew what those were). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love the transition from Angst to Fluff ^-^  
> (I hate ending things on a bad note)


End file.
